Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn (Book Review)

Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn. A Lady Julia Grey Mystery. Mira Books Trade Paperback, October 2010.

Lady Julia Grey, now Lady Brisbane after her marriage to detective Nicholas Brisbane, travels to a picturesque Indian village in the foothills of the Himalayas to investigate murder on a tea plantation in Dark Road to Darjeeling, the fourth mystery in this series by Deanna Raybourn.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn.

— ◊ —

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

Teenage Hitchcockian Thriller Planned

Deadline|London is reporting that BBC Films and Slingshot Productions are planning a teen thriller tentatively titled Teens on a Train, loosely based on the Alfred Hitchcock film Strangers on a Train, which itself was adapted from Patricia Highsmith's debut novel of psychological suspense, also titled Strangers on a Train.

Interestingly, the idea for the film was developed from a Hitchcockian script-writing competition that Slingshot held in 2007. It may be moving forward now that a judge has dismissed the lawsuit brought by the estate of Cornell Woolrich that the 2007 film Disturbia did not infringe on the Hitchcock film Rear Window, which was based on a Woolrich short story.

ABC Family Orders Pilot based on The Nine Lives of Chloe King Series by Celia Thomson

Deadline|TV is reporting that ABC Family has ordered three pilots for the network, one of which is based on "The Nine Lives of Chloe King" series of paranormal suspense books for middle school readers by Celia Thomson.

In the first book of the series, The Fallen, Chloe thinks she is just a normal 16-year-old girl until she falls from Coit Tower in San Francisco and dies. But then she wakes up to find things have changed in her new life. She has the ability to see in the dark. And she has claws. And someone is trying to kill her. Luckily she has eight lives to go.

Two additional books are in the series: The Stolen and The Chosen. Celia Thomson is a pen name used by Liz Braswell, who writes other young adult novels as Tracy Lynn.

The Fall Trilogy: Reconstruction, the Second Chapter in the Adventure Suspense Game Series, New at BFG

Games of Mystery is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery casual game from Big Fish Games released today and available to BFG Club members. You can find out more about these games by visiting our Mystery Games: Big Fish Download Games page or by clicking on the links provided below.

— ◊ —

The adventure continues in this second chapter of The Fall Trilogy. You were trapped in a mysterious temple in Asia, but now you've escaped and about to regain your family when disaster strikes, and you have a bad fall. You wake up in a building where an unknown contact briefs you for a brand new mission: If you find the USB key, you will be one step closer to finding your family!

See also the first game in the series, The Fall Trilogy Chapter One: Separation

Also available: The Fall Trilogy Chapter Two: Reconstruction Strategy Guide and a The Fall Trilogy Chapter Two: Reconstruction Game Walkthrough.

The Fall Trilogy Chapter Two: Reconstruction may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (139.62 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.

Watch a preview video below:

Get any standard game for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. Other benefits include the $2.99 Daily Deal, Tomorrow's Game Today, and special member rewards. And if you purchase any 6 games within a single month, you earn a free game with the Big Fish Game Club Monthly Punch Card! (Collector's Editions earn 3 punches each, half-way towards your free game!)

Read Ms. Terri's reviews of the adventure and casual mystery games featured on this site, including Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy, Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses!, Enlightenus, and many more!

Big Fish Games: Bestsellers

Big Fish Games: New releases

— ◊ —

Games of Mystery is your source for mystery-themed video, electronic, and board games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations!

Fox Cancels Lone Star; Third Season of Lie to Me to Air in its Time Slot on Mondays

In a somewhat indirect manner, Fox announced today it has canceled its new series Lone Star after airing just two episodes. In a press release, the network states that the third season of Lie to Me will take over the time slot of Lone Star, starting next Monday, October 4th with the season premiere.

Lone Star was one of the shows we featured in our Prime Time Crime series last week.

Universal Planning Film Adaptation of Little Girl Lost by Richard Aleas

The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog is reporting that Universal is planning a film adaptation of Little Girl Lost by Richard Aleas. Jonathan Levine is attached to direct a screenplay written by Michael Bacall.

Little Girl Lost was first published in 2004 and features New York City private investigator John Blake looking into the murder of a stripper in the city -- his former high school girlfriend, who ten years earlier had left him to marry an optometrist and a lead a quiet life in the Midwest.

Aleas is a pseudonym used by mystery author Charles Ardai.

Jared Harris Reportedly Cast as Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes II

More casting news for Sherlock Holmes II!

A few days ago we reported that Stephen Fry had been cast to play Sherlock Holmes's brother Mycroft in the sequel to the 2009 film starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Today, Latino Review is reporting that Jared Harris will play Holmes's arch-enemy, Professor James Moriarty. Harris is currently starring as Lane Pryce on AMC's Mad Men.

There hasn't been confirmation from the studio or the actor yet, and Latino Review has been wrong in the past regarding this character. Two years ago, the site reported that Russell Crowe would play Moriarty in the first Sherlock Holmes. Of course, we now know that didn't happen, as Moriarty only appeared briefly in the film and was played by an uncredited actor (presumably not Crowe).

Mr. E. Reviews Midsomer Murders: Set 16

Midsomer Murders has rapidly become one of my favorite "go to" series, new episodes of which I eagerly look forward to watching. The scripts are typically well plotted and written, the performances by the recurring and guest cast uniformly first rate, and the production values remarkably high. There's always some new evil lurking in the villages of Midsomer County to challenge DCI Tom Barnaby ... and by extension, those who watch.

Read the full text of our review at Mr. E. Reviews: Midsomer Murders: Set Sixteen.

— ◊ —

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

Amazon.com's New Kindle for the Web

This morning, Amazon.com announced Kindle for the Web, a way for potential buyers of Kindle editions to read the first chapter or so of a book from a website.

We wanted to take the application for a test drive, as it were, and since we were featuring the mystery Naked Heat by Richard Castle last night, we though we'd follow up with a post including the first two chapters of the book, embedded below. (We've chosen a height of 480px, which may be a little short ... we may have to experiment a bit with that.)

Try it out yourself, and let us know if you think this is something we should continue to do for featured titles on Omnimystery News.

Chap Taylor to Adapt Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog is reporting that screenwriter Chap Taylor (Changing Lanes) will adapt Gideon's Sword, the first thriller in the Gideon Crew series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Michael Bay (Transformers) is producing for Paramount.

Few details are known about the storyline other than Gideon Crew, who was 12-years-old when he witnessed the brutal murder of his father, now plans revenge 20 years later. But a mysterious witness to the crime confronts Gideon, offering him the chance of a lifetime.

Gideon's Sword publishes February, 2011.