The Cruel Ever After by Ellen Hart (Book Review)

The Cruel Ever After by Ellen Hart. A Jane Lawless Mystery. Minotaur Books Hardcover, December 2010.

The well-crafted plot holds a number of surprises for Minneapolis restaurateur Jane Lawless ... and the reader. In addition to the mystery involving her ex-husband, Jane reflects on what has been in her life and where it may be going. This is yet another solid entry in this winning series that continues to deliver superior storylines with engaging characters in realistic settings.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: The Cruel Ever After by Ellen Hart.

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

New Trailer for Priest, Adapted from the Manhwa Series by Hyung Min-woo

A new trailer from Priest, the film adaptation of the Priest series of manhwa by Korean writer/artist Hyung Min-woo, was released today (via Yahoo! Movies) and can be seen below.

The storyline features a legendary Warrior Priest (Paul Bettany) from the last Vampire War, who now lives in obscurity among the other downtrodden human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities ruled by the Church. When his niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on an obsessive quest to find her before they turn her into one of them. He is joined on his crusade by his niece's boyfriend, a trigger-fingered young wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess who possesses otherworldly fighting skills.

Priest will be in theaters on May 13th.

The Emperor's Tomb by Steve Berry (Book Review)

The Emperor's Tomb by Steve Berry. A Cotton Malone Mystery. Ballantine Hardcover, November 2010.

This fast-paced international thriller featuring Cotton Malone includes extended passages that link the cultural history of China with its present political environment, providing a fascinating backdrop for the retired Justice Department operative's quest for an ancient lamp.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: The Emperor's Tomb by Steve Berry.

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Read the first chapters of The Emperor's Tomb below.

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

ABC Renews Castle for a Fourth Season

Just a quick note to report (via TV|Line) that ABC has officially renewed six series, including Castle, for next season. (The first two seasons of Castle are available on DVD from Telemystery: Castle.)

Castle stars Nathan Fillion as (fictional) crime novelist Richard Castle, whose (real) bestselling novels (Heat Wave and Naked Heat) feature NYPD homicide detective Nikki Heat, modeled after the cop Stana Katic plays in the series, Kate Beckett. You can read the first chapter of Heat Wave below:

Colin Farrell To Star in Total Recall Remake

Last summer Columbia Pictures announced it was moving forward on a remake of the 1990 sci-fi thriller Total Recall, which is adapted from the short story "We Can Remember It For you Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick and originally published in 1966.

Now we're learning (via Collider) that filming begins this May with Colin Farrell in the lead. Though few details on the storyline have been released, producer Neal Moritz says, "It’s closer to the book, the big difference is we don’t go to space ... instead of it being a spaceship that takes us to another planet, there’s something that takes us from one side of the planet to another that’s really interesting."

Total Recall (we're assuming that's what the title will be) is expected to be released in 2012.

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for January 10, 2011

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!).

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This week's letters and mystery clue:

A B E F M N O R U

The title of John Verdon’s 2010 thriller suggests readers "think" this (9 letters).

We now have two weeks of our puzzles on one page 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!

Crawling with Zombies by Gerry Conway and Paulo Henrique (Book Review)

Crawling with Zombies by Gerry Conway and Paulo Henrique. The Hardy Boys "The New Case Files" Mysteries. Papercutz Hardcover, October 2010.

This first in a new series of graphic novels to feature teen detectives Frank and Joe Hardy maintains many elements familiar to readers, but adds new layers of personality and conflict. The bright, colorful graphics work well with the storyline, which is developed and resolved quickly, allowing the book to be read as a stand-alone.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Crawling with Zombies by Gerry Conway and Paulo Henrique.

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

The Cape Premieres Sunday, January 9th on NBC

Tomorrow, Sunday January 9th, NBC premieres its crime drama The Cape with a two-hour pilot episode at 9 PM (ET/PT), repeated on Monday also at 9 PM (ET/PT). It moves into its standard Monday timeslot on January 17th with new hour-long episodes.

David Lyons stars as Vince Faraday, an honest cop on a corrupt police force, who finds himself framed for a series of murders and presumed dead. He is forced into hiding, leaving behind his wife Dana (Jennifer Ferrin) and son, Trip (Ryan Wynott). Fueled by a desire to reunite with his family and to battle the criminal forces that have overtaken Palm City, Vince Faraday becomes "The Cape" -- his son's favorite comic book superhero -- and takes the law into his own hands.

Rounding out the cast are James Frain as billionaire Peter Fleming, The Cape's nemesis who moonlights as the twisted killer Chess; Keith David as Max Milani, the ringleader of a circus gang of bank robbers who mentors Vince Faraday and trains him to be The Cape; Summer Glau as Orwell, an investigative blogger who wages war on crime and corruption in Palm City; Dorian Missick as Marty Voyt, a former police detective and friend to Faraday; Martin Klebba as Rollo, member and unassuming muscle of the circus gang of bank robbers; and Vinnie Jones as Scales, resident thug and cohort of The Cape's nemesis Chess.

Watch a sneak peek of the series below:

Solve the Murder of an Artist in Blue Madonna: A Carol Reed Mystery, New from AVG

Games of Mystery is pleased to announce this week's new mystery and suspense casual and adventure games available for immediate download from Amazon Video Games.

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

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Blue Madonna: A Carol Reed Mystery

Did the artist Christina Falk really kill herself? If so, why did she phone Carol the day before her death, wanting to hire her? And was it really Christina that called Carol? With a dead client, Carol hasn't even got a case. And with so little information, she hasn't got any clues either. But the last thing that Christina did was to ask for Carol's help, so Carol figures that the least she could do is look into it. And when she uncovers several curious circumstances leading up to Christina's death, Carol just can't let it go.

See also the other game in this series: The Color of Murder.

ESRB Rating: Not Specified.

Windows Vista/XP (474 MB download).

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

Reviews of Mystery and Suspense Books for Kids, New This Week on Book Trends (110108)

Book Trends, a review site for young adult and children books, published several new book reviews this past week. We're presenting here a summary of those in the mystery/suspense/thriller category.

The Case of the Mysterious Countdown by Fred Rexroad. The third mystery in the Whiz Tanner series, recommended for readers aged 10 to 12. Lexile measure: N/A. Reviewed by a 6th grade student, who writes, "[T]his mystery has the most enigmatic and remarkable clues that I have ever read which make this book exceedingly fascinating and out of the ordinary. It is nice to know that writers like Fred Rexroad can make two kid detectives as intelligent as Sherlock Holmes." (Read the entire review.)

Star of Stone by P. D. Baccalario. The second mystery adventure in the Century Quartet series, recommended for readers aged 10 to 12. Lexile measure: N/A. Reviewed by a 7th grade student, who writes, "I enjoyed the creative idea of putting in special middle pages in the book. This allowed the reader to go along with the book as more and more clues were discovered and truly organized everything perfectly." (Read the entire review.)

For more reviews of children and young adult books of all genres, visit Book Trends; their reviews will amaze you! You can also follow Book Trends on Twitter.