Murder à la Mode by G. A. McKevett is Today's Featured Free Kindle Mystery

MystereBooks 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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Murder à la Mode by G. A. McKevett
A Savannah Reid Mystery (10th in series)
Kensington (Kindle eBook)
Download Link

About Murder à la Mode (from the publisher): Voluptuous P.I. Savannah Reid's cravings for tasty treats come second only to her appetite for adventure. Of course, every girl needs a little down time, and when things are quiet, Savannah loves nothing more than to curl up in bed with a box of chocolates, a steaming Irish coffee topped with whipped cream, and an even steamier romance novel -- preferably one with Lance Roman on the cover. He's everything she's ever wanted in a man: hunky, handsome, and oh-so-sexy. But when she gets the chance to compete for a date with Lance on a reality TV show, Man of My Dreams, her dream-come-true quickly turns into a nightmare.

Read the first chapter(s) of Murder à la Mode below. Use the Aa button to adjust the display settings (font size, line spacing, word density).

CBS Renews NCIS for 9th Season

In what can hardly be called news, CBS has officially renewed its hit series NCIS for ninth season. (It would be news if it hadn't done so! This week's episode achieved its highest ratings ever, beating ABC, Fox, NBC, and The CW combined in viewers.)

Mark Harmon, who plays Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs on the show, signed a two-year extension to his contract, which was set to expire this May.

Mercy Kill by Lori Armstrong (Mystery Book Review)

Mercy Kill by Lori Armstrong. A Mercy Gunderson Mystery. Touchstone Trade Paperback, January 2011.

This hard-hitting suspense novel is populated with hard-edged characters, the remote South Dakota setting just about ideal. The mystery surrounding the dead man -- why him, why there, why now -- is well-plotted. The most significant drawback (for some readers) will be the pervasive use of R-rated language by most of the characters.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Mercy Kill by Lori Armstrong.

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Read the first chapter(s) of Mercy Kill below. Use the Aa settings button to adjust text size, line spacing, and word density.

Paramount Tries Again with New Screenwriter for Jack Ryan Film

We haven't heard too much recently about the reboot of the Jack Ryan series, based on a character created by Tom Clancy and previously played by three actors (Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck) in four films (The Hunt for Red October 1990, Patriot Games 1992, Clear and Present Danger 1994, The Sum of All Fears 2002).

We know that Chris Pine will assume the role if and when a movie is made, but Paramount, which owns the film rights to the character, seems to be having a tough time coming up with a suitable script. Deadline|New York has the latest news (together with a brief summary of previous attempts to get the project going): Steve Zaillian has been brought in to rewrite (maybe even write from scratch) a screenplay that will feature a pre-CIA Jack Ryan. Unlike the previous films, which were all adapted from Clancy novels, this will be an original story.

Zaillian is familiar with the character (he wrote the screenplay for Clear and Present Danger), and most recently completed the script for The Girl with Dragon Tattoo, the English-language adaptation of the popular Stieg Larsson thriller.

The studio hopes to begin production sooner than later as Chris Pine is also committed to the sequel to 2009's Star Trek, which has a tentative 2012 release date.

The Nearest Exit by Olen Steinhauer, A Milo Weaver Thriller

The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a library of new mysteries, is pleased to feature a new mystery series title we recently received from the publisher.

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The Nearest Exit by Olen Steinhauer
A Milo Weaver Thriller (2nd in series)
Minotaur Books (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: February 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-62288-6

About The Nearest Exit (from the publisher): Now faced with the end of his quiet, settled life, reluctant spy Milo Weaver has no choice but to turn back to his old job as a “tourist.” Before he can get back to the CIA’s dirty work, he has to prove his loyalty to his new bosses, who know little of Milo’s background and less about who is really pulling the strings in the government above the Department of Tourism — or in the outside world, which is beginning to believe the legend of its existence. Milo is suddenly in a dangerous position, between right and wrong, between powerful self-interested men, between patriots and traitors — especially as a man who has nothing left to lose.

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About Olen Steinhauer: Raised in Virginia, the two-time Edgar Award finalist has since lived in Georgia, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Texas, California, Massachusetts, and New York. Outside the US, he's lived in Croatia (when it was called Yugoslavia), the Czech Republic and Italy. He also spent a year in Romania on a Fulbright grant, an experience that helped inspire his first five books. He now lives in Hungary with his wife and daughter. Visit his website at OlenSteinhauer.com.

Read the first chapters of The Nearest Exit below. Use the Aa settings button to adjust text size, line spacing, and word density.

Bantam Acquires Comic Book / Graphic Novel Rights to A Song of Fire and Ice Novels by George R. R. Martin

HBO is doing a made-for-television series adaptation of A Game of Thrones, the first in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" fantasy thrillers by George R. R. Martin. Now Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Bantam has acquired the graphic novel/comic book rights to the books. Dynamite Entertainment will issue the comic books, to be collected later in a volume to be published by Bantam.

Adapted by Daniel Abraham (who has also written graphic novel adaptations of Martin's "Wild Cards" anthology series) and illustrated by Tommy Paterson, the first issue is due out later this spring.

Set in a land where summers span decades and winters can last a lifetime, the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun. It will stretch from the south, where heat breeds plots, lusts and intrigues; to the vast and savage eastern lands; all the way to the frozen north, where an 800-foot wall of ice protects the kingdom from the dark forces that lie beyond. Kings and Queens, knights and renegades, liars, lords and honest men ... all will play the Game of Thrones.

We've previously posted a trailer for the HBO series, which begins April 17th. You can read the first chapter(s) of A Game of Thrones below. Use the Aa settings button to adjust text size, line spacing, and word density.

Warner Bros. Options Series of Fletch Novels by Gregory Mcdonald

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Warner Bros. has picked up the film rights to the Fletch series of mysteries by Gregory Mcdonald. The first book in the series, Fletch, originally published in 1974, served as the basis for the 1985 Chevy Chase film Fletch and its 1989 sequel.

The studio is looking to "reimagine" the series, not remake the movies.

In the first book, Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher is an investigative reporter, whose methods are a little unorthodox. Currently he's living on the beach with the strung-out trying to find to the source of the drugs they live for. He's taking more than a little flack from his editor. She doesn't appreciate his style. Or the expense account items he's racking up. Or his definition of the word deadline. So when multimillionaire Alan Stanwyk offers Fletch the job of a lifetime, which could be worth a fortune, he's intrigued and decides to do a little investigation. What he discovers is that the proposition is anything but what it seems.

In 1975, Fletch won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Two years later, its sequel, Confess, Fletch, won for Best Paperback Original.

You can read the first chapter(s) of Fletch below. Use the Aa settings button to adjust text size, line spacing, and word density.

NBC Cuts The Cape to 10 Episodes

NBC has cut its order of its struggling crime drama The Cape from 13 episodes to 10, clearly signalling the end of the series. The last episode is now scheduled to air on Monday, February 28th.

David Lyons stars as Vince Faraday, an honest cop on a corrupt police force, who becomes "The Cape" -- his son's favorite comic book superhero -- and takes the law into his own hands when he finds himself framed for a series of murders and presumed dead.

The conspiracy thriller The Event will return from its long hiatus -- the most recent first-run episode aired last November -- the following week in its timeslot.

The CW Orders Crime Drama Pilot Featuring Two Best Friends Forever

The CW cable network announced yesterday it had ordered four series pilots, one of which (given our interest in crime dramas) is Cooper and Stone, described as featuring two young women, best friends, adept at discussing fashion, music, and pop culture, and -- oh by the way -- are homicide cops on Chicago's north side.

The other pilots are for Awakening (two sisters face off during a zombie uprising), Hart of Dixie (young doctor inherits a medical practice in a small Southern town), and Heavenly (attorney works with an angel in a legal aid clinic).

Summit Acquires Film Rights to Soon-to-be-Published Thriller This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel

Deadline|New York is reporting that Summit Entertainment has picked up the film rights to This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel. Subtitled "The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein", the thriller is scheduled to be published this August.

In a nod to Mary Shelley's classic book Frankenstein, This Dark Endeavor acts as prequel. Victor and Konrad are the twin brothers Frankenstein. They are nearly inseparable. Growing up, their lives are filled with imaginary adventures ... until the day their adventures turn all too real. They stumble upon The Dark Library, and secret books of alchemy and ancient remedies are discovered. Their father forbids that they ever enter the room again, but this only piques Victor's curiosity more. When Konrad falls gravely ill, Victor is not be satisfied with the various doctors his parents have called in to help. He is drawn back to The Dark Library where he uncovers an ancient formula for the Elixir of Life. Determination and the unthinkable outcome of losing his brother spur Victor on in the quest for the three ingredients that will save Konrad's life.