Games of Mystery: Insider Tales, The Secret of Casanova, New at Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, 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.

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Stroll through the gothic and gloomy alleys of Prague, listen to chansons on the streets of Paris and enjoy the elegant and light architecture of Venice in this hidden object game. As investigator Francesca Di Porta, you are looking for clues to shed some light on Casanova’s life and reveal his greatest secret. Unfold the mystery that is Casanova, the world's most famous lover and adventurer, in Insider Tales: The Secret of Casanova!

See also the first game in the series, Insider Tales: The Stolen Venus.

Insider Tales: The Secret of Casanova, a Big Fish Game Club exclusive, may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (147.82 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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First Clues Student Review: The Haunting of Hillside School by Kristiana Gregory

First Clues: Mysteries for Kids is delighted to introduce a new feature for our website, book reviews written by students. These students offer their unique perspective on the book in their review and provide a valuable resource to parents looking for new mystery adventures for their kids to read.

The Haunting of Hillside School by Kristiana Gregory
The Cabin Creek Mysteries

Scholastic (Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-545-00378-4 (0545003784)
ISBN-13: 978-0-545-00378-0 (9780545003780)
Publication Date: September 2008
List Price: $4.99

Review written by Devin, a 6th grade student. Date of review: October 2009.

Review: Have you ever read a book where you read the first page and have to read the rest of the book? Well I have, the book is The Haunting of Hillside School. The Cabin Creek Mysteries is a series of books for children between the ages of ten and twelve, written by Kristiana Gregory. The series is about three cousins – Jeff who is twelve, David who is ten, and Claire who is nine – and the mysteries they encounter. Also their grandfather Mr. Wellback and a friend they met along the way called Sophie help with solving the mystery. The fourth book in the six-book series is called The Haunting of Hillside School.

It all started when Claire saw a pale face in the classroom window and believed it was a ghost. Claire told Jeff and David about it and at first they didn’t believe her. Once their grandfather told them that Hillside School used to be a mansion owned by the Tuttle family who had a daughter named Nettie, they were hooked on the idea of a haunting. Their grandfather also told them the story of how the Tuttle family mansion came to be their school and the connection to Nettie. That’s where their investigation began. Along the way they meet people who say that they are going to tear down Hillside school, and they meet Sophie. With Sophie they uncover strange clues that lead them closer to solving the mystery. Their quest for the solution to the mystery takes them to places in their town they never knew about where secrets will be uncovered.

This book was fantastic and very realistic. Although this book was very interesting I think it should be more geared towards younger readers. This book was good because it continuously captured your attention. One example of this from the book is that in one of the chapters at the end it said “He had fallen through some rotten wood and landed in the basement”. This makes you want to read on because it makes you ask questions like “Is he alright?” questions that can only be answered if you read into the next chapter. The book also made you feel as if you were part of the story due to the descriptiveness and book gives you a map and specifics of the area so much that you get a picture of their town in your head and when they go from place you follow along and can see where they are. Also the details in the book use some of the five senses. An example of this is that in the book it said “an aroma of gingerbread was in the air”. The plot and storyline make this book a realistic fiction which is my kind of book. The character of Claire was my personal favorite character because she was the biggest sleuth out of all of the cousins. The reason being why someone should read this book is because this book it’s amazing. The book could get anyone interested in reading it due to the well planned out plot and characters. It is a fun book to read and it was a very intriguing. Once I told my aunt and grandma about the book they said “can I read it after you’re done with it.” Can you believe that even my grandma and aunt were intrigued by this book? If she was intrigued by this book because she’s a picky reader I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to read it. If I were to rate this book out of ten stars it would be worthy of a hundred stars. I could read this book over and over again without getting bored because each time I discover something new that I didn’t notice before and the clues fall into the conclusion of the mystery in your head.

If you are interested in purchasing The Haunting of Hillside School from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

First Clue Mysteries is pleased to provide information on over 100 mystery series for children and young adults. Each series is conveniently listed under four different age categories: New Sleuths (ages 4 to 6), Future Sleuths (ages 7 to 10), Sleuths in Training (ages 10 to 12), and Apprentice Sleuths (ages 13 and older). If you have a favorite mystery series you'd like to see added to our site, please contact us.

All student book reviews are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced in any manner, print or electronic, without the express written consent of the copyright owner. Reviews are published here with permission of the copyright owner.

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Mystery Book Review: An Old Chaos by Sheila Simonson

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of An Old Chaos by Sheila Simonson. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

An Old Chaos by Sheila Simonson
A Latouche County Mystery

Perseverance Press (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-880284-99-5 (1880284995)
ISBN-13: 978-1-880284-99-5 (9781880284995)
Publication Date: September 2009
List Price: $14.95

Review: A mudslide that buries several luxury homes, including some of their residents, touches off a scandal that may include some of the Latouche County's top officials in An Old Chaos, the second mystery in this series by Sheila Simonson.

During the spring of 2005, after a season of particularly heavy snow and ice, Mount St. Helens erupts at 5 AM, causing a small earthquake that brings down Prune Hill. Unfortunately, a small community of luxury homes, its residents mostly asleep, has been built at the base of the hill and is covered in the resulting mudslide. Six people die. The large homes were controversial anyway, constructed in a remote part of the county with spectacular vistas, and to some, a blight on the land. The disaster is only the beginning, though, as everyone involved begins to question how the homes came to be built on the land, and to identify who is to blame for the residents' deaths.

Readers expecting a whodunit in An Old Chaos may be somewhat disappointed; the mystery plot here is very thin. Rather, it is largely a study in politics: state, county, and tribal. And where there's politics, there's money. And where there's money, there's (at least the potential of) murder.

The book is divided into two parts: "Disaster", in which the characters (who include, of course, the suspects) are introduced at a dinner party at one of the homes that will ultimately be destroyed. In many ways, this first part of the book is the best, defining relationships between the characters and setting the stage for what is to come, effectively ramping up the suspense that culminates in the mudslide. The second part, "Aftermath", is the resulting investigation and is not nearly as engaging. It gets a bit tedious here, with a fair amount of finger-pointing and "I told you so"-type narrative. The outcome isn't entirely predictable, though, an interesting way to end the story.

The title comes from the poem Sunday Morning by Wallace Stevens: "We live in an old chaos of the sun, Or old dependency of day and night, Or island solitude, unsponsored, free, Of that wide water, inescapable."

Special thanks to Perseverance Press for providing an ARC of An Old Chaos for this review.

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

If you are interested in purchasing An Old Chaos from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): When a landslide kills six people and destroys several expensive homes, Madeline Thomas, principal chief of the Klalos tribe, and geologist Charlie O’Neill know something is rotten in Latouche County: the land should never have been built on. Sheriff’s investigator Rob Neill uncovers a suppressed hazard warning and evidence of payoffs to county government, with the help of librarian Meg McLean. Rob leads an investigation that implicates local development bigwigs and county personnel, including his boss and mentor, the sheriff. Then there's a murder to keep the cover-up covered up.

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Games of Mystery: Nancy Drew in Warnings at Waverly Academy, New for Windows PCs

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, and getaway vacations including murder mystery weekends, is pleased to announce the availability of the latest game in the popular Nancy Drew series for Windows PC.

Nancy Drew: Warnings at Waverly Academy was released this week by Her Interactive, the 21st game in this popular series for Windows PCs.

The Case: You are undercover at a prestigious girls' boarding school to discover the culprit behind threatening notes and dangerous accidents aimed at its valedictorian candidates! Is there a secret someone wants to protect or are the malicious pranks intended to scare away the competition -- permanently? Solve the mystery before the threats turn deadly and you're expelled from the case!

Nancy Drew: Warnings at Waverly Academy is rated E for Everyone.

All 21 PC games, including many available for immediate download, can be seen on our Games of Mystery: Nancy Drew web page. Also available are Nancy Drew games for the Nintendo DS and Wii and the new Nancy Drew Dossier series of casual games.

Don't forget to visit Games of Mystery for all types of mysterious fun!

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Chris Pine May Be the Next Jack Ryan

Mike Fleming on Variety is reporting that Paramount is in negotiations with Chris Pine to assume the role of Jack Ryan in a new film based on the Tom Clancy character.

Paramount has long wanted to restart the series, which to date has had three actors playing the character in four movies: Alec Baldwin in The Hunt for Red October (1990), Harrison Ford in Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), and most recently Ben Affleck in The Sum of All Fears (2002). Last summer it was widely reported that George Clooney was interested in the role.

The new film is likely to be based on an original screenplay by Hossein Amini and not specifically adapted from any of the Clancy thrillers.

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A&E Orders Crime Drama Pilot Featuring a Bipolar Detective

Last May we reported that A&E had a full slate of new crime dramas it was considering. Now Variety is reporting that A&E has ordered a pilot for a series not previously mentioned, one starring Radha Mitchell as an LAPD detective struggling with bipolar disorder.

Titled The Quickening, Mitchell's character, a brilliant detective, faces the dilemma of having to choose between her medications and her profession.

It's not clear from the article if this is intended to be more of a serious crime drama or a somewhat comedic one, but if the latter, it could fill the void left by the end of the Monk series, which is in its final season and stars Tony Shalhoub as an OCD police detective.

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Tommy Lee Jones may Co-Star, Direct The Lincoln Lawyer, based on the novel by Michael Connelly

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Tommy Lee Jones is in negotiations to direct and co-star in the film adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer, the thriller that introduced Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller by Michael Connelly. The Lincoln Lawyer was the winner of the 2006 Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel, and won the 2006 Shamus Award for Best P. I. Hardcover.

It's not clear what role Jones would play. Matthew McConaughey has already been signed to play Haller.

Book synopsis: Mickey Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the backseat of his Lincoln Town Car, traveling between the far-flung courthouses of Los Angeles to defend clients of every kind. Bikers, con artists, drunk drivers, drug dealers -- they're all on Mickey Haller's client list. For him, the law is rarely about guilt or innocence, it's about negotiation and manipulation. Sometimes it's even about justice.

A Beverly Hills playboy arrested for attacking a woman he picked up in a bar chooses Haller to defend him, and Mickey has his first high-paying client in years. It is a defense attorney's dream, what they call a franchise case. And as the evidence stacks up, Haller comes to believe this may be the easiest case of his career. Then someone close to him is murdered and Haller discovers that his search for innocence has brought him face-to-face with evil as pure as a flame. To escape without being burned, he must deploy every tactic, feint, and instinct in his arsenal -- this time to save his own life.

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TNT May Pick Up Recently Canceled Southland

Several days ago we reported that NBC had canceled Southland even before the second season had begun. Now The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the gritty crime drama may have a new home on TNT.

TNT has been ramping up its efforts in the genre with its original series The Closer and Dark Blue, and Southland would be a natural fit. The network also rebroadcasts episodes of many other series including Bones, Cold Case, Law & Order, Numb3rs, and Without a Trace.

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Mystery Book Review: Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile by Gyles Brandreth

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile by Gyles Brandreth. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile by Gyles Brandreth
An Oscar Wilde Mystery

Touchstone (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-4391-3728-5 (1439137285)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4391-3728-4 (9781439137284)
Publication Date: September 2009
List Price: $24.00

Review: Good friend, colleague, and poet Robert Sherard chronicles a new adventure for Oscar Wilde that spans over a year in his life in Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile, the third mystery in this series by Gyles Brandreth.

In late 1881, Wilde sets sail from Liverpool to New York City to embark on a year-long lecture tour of the United States. He ends his tour in New York City, where he meets the stage actor/manager Edmond La Grange, his family, and his company of actors. They will be returning on the same ship as Wilde back to Europe. The trip doesn't start well, though. La Grange's valet decides not to accompany him, so Wilde offers the services of his own valet, Tranquir, in his stead. Then someone kills La Grange's mother's pet dog. Soon after arriving in Paris, Tranquir is found dead in his room, an apparent suicide. La Grange's son, Bernard seems to have taken to the streets as a vagrant and his twin sister, Agnes, screams or breaks into tears at the drop of a hat (so to speak). "What is it with this family?" Wilde wonders. When he begins digging into their lives, he uncovers a staggering secret that affects every member of the La Grange family and many of their associates.

As Oscar Wilde was a real person, and are several of the characters that populate the book, from Arthur Conan Doyle to Sarah Bernhardt, and with the retrospective manner in which the story is told, it's hard at times to remember that Edmond La Grange and his family are fictional, so well drawn are they. It's a well-spun tale of mystery and intrigue, and Oscar Wilde and his wide sphere of friends and associates are very enjoyable characters to get to know. Wilde's famous wit is also prominently on display ("You should never trust a man that shows you his lower teeth when he smiles," he quips) as is his keen intellect in solving a series of most mysterious crimes. This third book, Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile, like the series itself, is highly recommended.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile and to Touchstone 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 Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Playwright and raconteur Oscar Wilde embarks on another adventure as he sets sail for America in the 1880s on a roller coaster of a lecture tour.

But the adventure doesn't truly begin until Oscar boards an ocean liner headed back across the Atlantic and joins a motley crew led by French impresario Edmond La Grange. As Oscar becomes entangled with the La Grange acting dynasty, he suspects that all is not as it seems.

What begins with a curious death at sea soon escalates to a series of increasingly macabre tragedies once the troupe arrives in Paris to perform Hamlet. A strange air of indifference surrounds these seemingly random events, inciting Oscar to dig deeper, aided by his friends Robert Sherard and the divine Sarah Bernhardt. What he discovers is a horrifying secret -- one that may bring him closer to his own last chapter than anyone could have imagined.

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Mysteries on TV: Flashpoint, Inspector Lewis, Lovejoy, and Wycliffe, New This Week on DVD

Mysteries on TV, your source for the most complete selection of detective, amateur sleuth, private investigator, and suspense television mystery series now available or coming soon to DVD, is profiling four series that have season DVDs being released this week.

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Flashpoint is an ensemble drama which depicts the emotional journey into the tough, risk-filled lives of a group of cops in the SRU (inspired by Toronto's Emergency Task Force). It's a unique unit that rescues hostages, busts gangs, defuses bombs, climbs the sides of buildings and talks down suicidal teens. Members of a highly-skilled tactical team, they're also trained in negotiating, profiling and getting inside the suspect's head to diffuse the situation to try and save lives.

Flashpoint debuted as a summer series on CBS during 2008 and proved popular enough for the network to schedule it as a regular series.

The Flashpoint: Season One DVD set of 3 discs contains the 9 episodes that aired from July through September 2008 plus the first 4 episodes of the second season that aired in January 2009. (This DVD "season" corresponds to what was shown internationally; CBS aired the final 4 episodes of the first season as the first 4 episodes of the second season.)

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Oxford's Inspector Robert Lewis (Kevin Whately), protégé of the legendary Inspector Morse (John Thaw), and his brilliant, brooding partner, Detective Sergeant James Hathaway (Laurence Fox) are back with four twisting new thrillers in Inspector Lewis and this time their personal connections to their work threaten to expose more than a killer.

The series is based on characters created by crime novelist Colin Dexter.

The Inspector Lewis: Series Two DVD set of 4 discs contain each of the episodes that originally aired on ITV in the UK from February through March 2008 (and later in the year on PBS in the US): "And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea", "Music to Die For", "Life Born of Fire", and "The Great and the Good".

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Ian McShane is back as the crime-solving antiques dealer with an eye for beauty ... and trouble in Lovejoy.

Danger, betrayal, and revenge still fly fast and furious as Lovejoy grapples with dud checks, intriguing riddles, and charges of aggravated burglary. But many close calls hit ever more close to home when Tinker (Dudley Sutton) goes missing, Charlotte (Caroline Langshrie) gets kidnapped, and a man claiming to be Charlie Gimbert's (Malcolm Tierney) father appears.

The Lovejoy: Season Six DVD set of 3 discs contain the 10 episodes of the 6th and final season that originally aired on BBC from October through December 1994.

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The wild, craggy Cornish coast seems ideal for hiding serious crimes, but forthright and observant Detective Superintendent Wycliffe (Jack Shepherd) leads an investigative team charged with solving each baffling case in Wycliffe.

Killers, escaped convicts, arsonists, grave robbers and drug runners are some of the cunning criminals they pursue in the intriguing mysteries of this gripping, British police drama.

Wycliffe is based on the character in a series of crime novels by W. J. Burley.

The Wycliffe: Series Two DVD set of 3 discs contain the 8 episodes that originally aired on ITV from June through August 1995.

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

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