Face of Betrayal by Lis Wiehl is Today's Featured Free Kindle Mystery

Kindle Mysteries is pleased to feature a mystery title that is currently available in Kindle eBook format for free from Amazon.com. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically only until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so download it today!

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Face of Betrayal by Lis Wiehl
A Triple Threat Mystery (1st in series)
Thomas Nelson (Kindle eBook)
Download Link

About Face of Betrayal (from the publisher): While home on Christmas break, a seventeen-year-old Senate page takes her dog out for a walk and never returns. Reporter Cassidy Shaw is the first to break the story. The resulting media firestorm quickly ensnares Federal Prosecutor Allison Pierce and FBI Special Agent Nicole Hedges. The three unique women are life-long friends who call themselves The Triple Threat--a nickname derived from their favorite dessert and their uncanny ability to crack cases via their three positions of power.

Though authorities think Katie might have been kidnapped or run away, those theories shatter when Nicole uncovers Katie's blog. They reveal a girl troubled by a mysterious relationship with an older man. Possibly a U.S. Senator.

As the three women race against time to find Katie alive, their increasing emotional involvement brings out their own inner demons and external enemies. There are many faces of betrayal, but they must find one face in a crowd of growing suspects before they become the next victims.

Read our Review of Face of Betrayal by Lis Wiehl at Mysterious Reviews.

Blood of the Wicked by Leighton Gage is Today's Featured Free Kindle Mystery

Kindle Mysteries is pleased to feature a mystery title that is currently available in Kindle eBook format for free from Amazon.com. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically only until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so download it today!

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Blood of the Wicked by Leighton Gage
A Mario Silva Mystery (1st in series)
Soho Crime (Kindle eBook)
Download Link

About Blood of the Wicked (from the publisher): In the remote Brazilian town of Cascatas do Pontal, where landless peasants are confronting the owners of vast estates, the the bishop arrives by helicopter to consecrate a new church and is assassinated.

Mario Silva, Chief Inspector for Criminal Matters of the Federal Police of Brazil, is dispatched to the interior to find the killer. The Pope himself has called Brazil’s president; the pressure is on Silva to perform. Assisted by his nephew, Hector Costa, also a federal policeman, Silva must battle the state police and a corrupt judiciary as well as criminals who prey on street kids, the warring factions of the Landless League, the big landowners and the Church itself, in order to solve the initial murder and several brutal killings that follow. Justice is hard to come by. An old priest, a secret liberation theologist, finally metes it out.

Read our Review of Blood of the Wicked by Leighton Gage at Mysterious Reviews.

NBC Shortens the First Season of Chase to 18 Episodes

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that NBC has cut its order of episodes of the crime drama Chase from 22 to 18 ... but is quick to note that this does not mean the series has been canceled -- and that it still represents a full season of the series.

We're confused. What is the current definition of a "full season"? For the major broadcast networks, we thought it meant at least 22 (more usually 24 to 26) episodes. Cable networks, however, often have much shorter "full seasons". Apparently, a "full season" means whatever the marketing department wants it to mean! Still, we don't expect Chase to see a second season, based on its new "full season" first season.

Chase moves to Wednesdays at 9 PM (ET/PT) starting January 12th, 2011.

Only Two Mysteries on the New York Times List of 100 Notable Books of 2010

The New York Times has just published its list of 100 Notable Books of 2010, about half of which are fiction, and much to our surprise it seems only two titles on the list are mysteries (and one of these should come as no surprise to anyone, if popularity is any measure): The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson, and Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross.

One other title on the list, which we were completely unaware of that has a mystery-ish description, is Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco, which won the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize. We'll have to check that one out.

The full list will appear in the December 5th print edition of the Book Review.

AMC to Air All Six Episodes of The Walking Dead (Season 1) This Sunday, December 5th

What's better than an all-new episode of The Walking Dead? How about an all-new episode preceded by 5½ hours of all the previous ones?

On Sunday, December 5th, starting at 4:30 PM (ET/PT), AMC will air the entire first season of The Walking Dead, culminating with the Season Finale at 10 PM (ET/PT).

Based on Robert Kirkman's popular comic book series, The Walking Dead is an epic, edge-of-your-seat drama where personal struggles are magnified against a backdrop of moment-to-moment survival.

The comic book series first appeared in 2003, with six issues each collected into a series of books. The first is titled The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone Bye with the most recent, The Walking Dead Volume 13: Too Far Gone, published just last month.

The Walking Dead has been renewed for a second season.

The Walking Dead Season One (DVD) and The Walking Dead Season One (Blu-ray Disc) will be released on March 8th, 2011, and may be pre-ordered.

Watch a sneak peek at Sunday's finale "TS-19" below:

AMC's Suspense Series The Killing Begins Production

Earlier this year, AMC-TV announced a pilot order for a crime drama adapted from the Danish suspense series Forbrydelsen. Yesterday, the network announced that production has begun in Vancouver on its 13-episode series, titled The Killing.

The Killing ties together three distinct stories by a single murder and as the detectives assigned to the case disagree about the best course of action, they chase down a variety of leads and suspects. Along the way there are major repercussions for the victim's family, the detectives, the suspects, and the local politicians connected to the case. Set in Seattle, it is an exploration of the city's politics; a unique portrayal of a victim's grieving family, and a study of the personal life of a cop. There are no accidents in The Killing. Everyone has a secret, and while the characters think they've moved on, their past isn't done with them.

"We were drawn to the project immediately after viewing the original format. Veena Sud's (Cold Case) adaptation has everything we loved about the original and more -- it is compelling and addictive storytelling," said Susie Fitzgerald, AMC's SVP of scripted development and current programming.

The Killing is expected to premiere in March 2011.

Mystery Bestsellers for December 03, 2010

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending December 3rd, 2010 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

Just some minor shuffling on the list this week -- yes, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson is remains in the top spot -- with one new title debuting.

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Coming in at number 11 is Port Mortuary, the 18th mystery in the Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell.

A treacherous path from Scarpetta's past merges with the high tech highway she now finds herself on. At the beginning of her professional career, when she enlisted in the Air Force to pay off her medical school debt, she found herself ensnared in a gruesome case of what seemed to be vicious, racially motivated hate crimes against two Americans in South Africa. Now, more than twenty years and many career successes later, her secret military ties have drawn her to Dover Air Force Base, where she has been immersed in a training fellowship to master the art of CT-assisted virtual autopsy -- a procedure the White House has mandated that she introduce in the private sector.

As the chief of the new Cambridge Forensic Center in Massachusetts, a joint venture of the state and federal governments and MIT, Scarpetta is confronted with a case that could shut down her new facility and ruin her personally and professionally. A young man drops dead, apparently from a cardiac arrhythmia, eerily close to Scarpetta's new Cambridge home. But when his body is examined the next morning, there are stunning indications that he may have been alive when he was zipped inside a pouch and locked insider the Center's cooler. Various 3-D radiology scans reveal more shocking details about internal injuries unlike any Scarpetta has ever seen. These suggest the possibility of a conspiracy to cause mass casualties. She realizes that she is fighting a cunning and cruel enemy that is invisible as she races against time to discover who and why before more people die.

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The top four mystery bestsellers this week are shown below:

Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

Buy 2 Books, Get the 3rd Free This Friday (December 3rd) at eHarlequin.com

We don't often mention eHarlequin's Freebie Fridays since they rarely -- much to our dismay -- feature mystery or suspense novels as the free book.

But this week and next, as part of their 12 Deals of Christmas, you can buy 2 or more books and get a 3rd title of your choice absolutely free! The fine print: the lowest price book is free, and ebooks are excluded. This offer is only valid for purchases made on Friday, December 3rd, 2010.

Click on the banner above to start shopping!

Dexter Renewed for a Sixth Season

E! Online is reporting that Showtime's crime drama Dexter has been renewed for a sixth season. The series, based on a character created by Jeff Lindsay, stars Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter expert for the Miami Dade Police Department ... and a ruthless serial killer.

The fifth book in the series, Dexter is Delicious, was published this past September. Read the first chapters of the book below:

Film Adaptation Considered for Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice

Vulture is reporting that Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood) is interested in adapting -- and may indeed have already written a treatment for -- Thomas Pynchon's comic crime novel Inherent Vice.

In the book, private gumshoe Doc Sportello's ex-girlfriend, who he hasn't seen in a while, suddenly shows up with a story about a plot to kidnap a billionaire land developer with whom she just happens to be in love. It's the tail end of the psychedelic sixties in L.A., and Doc knows that "love" is another of those words going around at the moment, like "trip" or "groovy," except that this one usually leads to trouble.

The reclusive Pynchon narrated the entertaining trailer for the book when it was published in 2009. You can watch it below: