The Fourth Assassin by Matt Beynon Rees, An Omar Yussef Mystery

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 Fourth Assassin by Matt Beynon Rees
An Omar Yussef Mystery (4th in series)
Soho Crime (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: February 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-885-1

About The Fourth Assassin (from the publisher): When Omar Yussef travels to New York for a UN Conference, he's eager to visit his youngest son Ala, who lives in Bay Ridge, a Brooklyn neighborhood with a large Palestinian community. He arrives at Ala's apartment to find the door ajar and a headless body in one of the beds. He's initially terrified that the dead man is his son, but soon Ala arrives and identifies the body as that of one of his roommates. He's convinced that his other roommate is the killer. But when the cops show up Ala refuses to give an alibi and is arrested.

Desperate to prove his son's innocence, Omar Yussef investigates. The murderer has left clues that refer to the Assassins, a medieval Shiite sect. When they were teenagers, Ala and his roommates had a club by that name. What's the connection? As Omar Yussef delves deeper, he uncovers a deadly international conspiracy.

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About Matt Beynon Rees: Born in South Wales, he has covered the Middle East as a journalist for over a decade and was Time magazine's Jerusalem bureau chief from 2000 to 2006. The first book in this series, The Collaborator of Jerusalem, won the CWA New Blood Dagger. He lives in Jerusalem. Visit his website at MattBeynonRees.com.

 Mysteries by Matt Beynon Rees reviewed by Mysterious Reviews: A Grave in Gaza (2008), The Samaritan's Secret (2009), and The Fourth Assassin (2010).

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

Random House Acquires Trilogy of YA Thrillers by Mark Frost

In a press release today, Random House Children's Books announced the publisher had acquired Will West: The Epic, a trilogy of thrillers for young adults written by Mark Frost. The first book in the series, The Paladin Protocol, will be published in Fall 2012.

Will West "combines a sophisticated mystery with furiously-paced action and a twist of the paranormal. In the novel, the title character has spent his entire life trying to avoid any attention at the request of his parents. Then by sheer accident, Will scores off the charts on a nationwide exam and is recruited by an exclusive and somewhat mysterious prep school, the best school no one's ever heard of, with technology the likes of which no one's ever seen. At the same time, coincidentally—or not so—Will realizes he's being followed by men in dark hats, driving black sedans who pose a terrifying threat to his family. What follows is a series of events and revelations that places Will smack in the middle of a millennia old struggle between titanic forces."

Mark Frost is a novelist and television screewriter, whose credits include The Six Million Dollar Man, Hill Street Blues, and Twin Peaks. He published his first novel, The List of Seven featuring a young Arthur Conan Doyle, in 1993.

The Illuminated Vineyard by Jean Moynahan (Mystery Book Review)

The Illuminated Vineyard by Jean Moynahan. Non-series. Five Star Hardcover, February 2011.

The author crafts an interesting environment for her characters in this novel of suspense, creating a sense of near-constant apprehension for the reader. The murder investigation and whodunit aspect is nicely handled, but is clearly secondary to the overall story arc of a recently widowed woman and her uneasy relationship with a mysterious young man.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: The Illuminated Vineyard by Jean Moynahan.

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Dracula Once Again to be Re-Imagined in Film

Deadline|New York is reporting that Warner Bros. is set to acquire a script for the film Harker, featuring the Scotland Yard detective Jonathan Harker, a character in the classic novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, on the trail of the infamous vampire. (Harker is a solicitor in the book, hence the film will be a "re-imagining" of the tale.) Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan, Unknown) is set to direct a screenplay written by Lee Shipman and Brian McGreevy, the latter having just sold his first thriller, Hemlock Grove, to Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Bram Stoker wrote Dracula in 1897, the character being the source of countless retellings and interpretations since then.

Anton Yelchin Cast as Odd Thomas in Film Adaptation of Dean Koontz Novel

Last November we reported that the film adaptation of Dean Koontz's novel Odd Thomas was moving forward, with Stephen Sommers (The Mummy movies) directing his own screenplay.

Now we're learning (via Collider) that the role of the titular character has been cast: Anton Yelchin (Chekov in the Star Trek prequel).

Here's what 21-year-old Odd Thomas has to say about himself (from the author's website): "I see dead people, spirits of the departed who, each for his own reason, will not move on from this world. Some are drawn to me for justice, if they were murdered, or for comfort, or for companionship; others seek me out for motives that I cannot always understand. This complicates my life."

In the first book of the series -- there are four to day, plus two graphic novels -- a mysterious man comes to town with a voracious appetite, a filing cabinet stuffed with information on the world's worst killers, and a pack of hyena-like shades following him wherever he goes. Who the man is and what he wants, not even Odd's deceased informants can tell him. His most ominous clue is a page ripped from a day-by-day calendar for August 15.

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

Lifetime Orders Two Crime Drama Series

Lifetime Television (via The Hollywood Reporter) has ordered two 13-episode crime dramas, both of which are expected to premiere later this year.

Ally Walker (Profiler, Sons of Anarchy) stars as an LAPD homicide detective in Exit 19, who is raising two sons with the help of her troubled brother (Chris Payne Gilbert).

Rachel Carpani (The Glades, McLeod's Daughters) stars as a Chicago police detective, who decides to join the department's internal affairs division in Against the Wall. Loyalties are tested within her close-knit, blue-collar family of cops; Treat Williams (Heartland, Everwood) and Kathy Baker (Jesse Stone, Medium) co-star.

Mr. E. Reviews The American

Adapted from a novel by Martin Booth, this is a quiet film; there is little action, minimal dialog, and a subdued soundtrack. It is most certainly a great film to look at -- the Italian village setting both quaint and mysterious -- but I'm not at all certain it's a great film to watch. The main character is complex, but George Clooney portrays him as simple and one-dimensional, often appearing on screen as if he doesn't understand the role he is playing at all.

Read the full text of our review at Mr. E. Reviews The American.

Available on: DVD | Blu-ray | VOD

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

New Carina Press Mysteries for February 2011

Each month, Omnimystery News is pleased to list new mystery and suspense titles from Carina Press, an ebook only publisher. Links are provided to purchase the ebook from, where available, Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble, or Kobo Books; click on the banner to the right to be taken to the CarinaPress.com website to browse for other titles.

New books of mystery and suspense for February 2011 from Carina Press include:

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Dangerous Secrets by Katie Reus
Non-series

Isabelle Ballantine has been fighting for independence since she was old enough to walk. Now that she's finally out from under her father's shadow, she won't let anyone stand in her way. It's tough living on her own, working in a bar and keeping her true identity a secret, but things start to look up when a sexy new stranger walks into her life. After working side by side for weeks, Izzy can't figure out why he won't make a move ...

To cinch the deal of a lifetime, Adam Marcellus agrees to help Izzy's eccentric father convince his daughter to move home. He'd assumed Izzy would be another spoiled rich princess, but he's surprised to discover his feelings for her are stronger than anything he's ever experienced. When a deranged stalker targets her, Adam finds himself fighting not only an unknown threat—but an unexpected attraction to the one woman he can't have ...

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Carina Press, a division of Harlequin, is a digital-first publisher offering ebooks in a variety of genres, including mystery. eBooks from Carina can be read on the Apple iPad, Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, B&N Nook, Borders Kobo, BlackBerry and mobile phones.

For more mystery, suspense and thriller ebooks, visit MystereBooks.com.

Telemystery: Columbo, New This Week on DVD

Telemystery, your source for one of the most comprehensive selections of detective, amateur sleuth, private investigator, and suspense television mystery series, mini-series and made-for-television movies, now available on or coming soon to DVD or Blu-ray disc, is profiling one series being released this week.

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Peter Falk stars as LAPD homicide detective Columbo in this long-running series, which initially aired on NBC then later on ABC. (The DVD collections are designated as "seasons" for the NBC episodes and "movie collections" for the ABC made-for-television movies.)

The six movies that comprise the Columbo: The Movie Collection 1991-1993 DVD set include the following: "Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health" (1991, guest starring George Hamilton); "Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star" (1991, Dabney Coleman); "Death Hits the Jackpot" (1991, Rip Torn); "No Time to Die" (1992, based on an 87th Precinct novel by Ed McBain); "A Bird in the Hand ..." (1992, Steve Forrest, Greg Evigan, Tyne Daly); "It's All in the Game" (1993, Faye Dunaway, who won an Emmy for her performance, with a script written by Peter Falk).

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Visit the Telemystery website to discover more television mystery series currently available on and coming soon to DVD and Blu-ray disc.

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for February 07, 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 C D E L O R T W

This describes the corpse in the third Luanne Fogarty mystery by Glynn Marsh Alam (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!