Mystery Godoku Puzzle for February 14, 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 F H I M N R Y

This young amateur sleuth is featured in a historical series by Rose Melikan (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!

Mr. E. Reviews Single-Handed Set 1

The three 2-part episodes of this crime drama presented in this set are, without exception, individually and collectively excellent. The well-written storylines, the performances, even the visuals associated with the remote Irish setting, are all compelling reasons to seek out and watch this series.

Read the full text of our review at Mr. E. Reviews Single-Handed Set 1.

Available on: DVD

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

Ms. Terri Reviews Dying for Daylight

Consisting of four episodes and featuring vampire Dahlia Lynley-Chivers, a character created by mystery author Charlaine Harris, Dying for Daylight is an entertaining, though at times challenging, hidden object (but not quite adventure) game that has a compelling storyline and a high quality look to it.

Read Ms. Terri's complete review on Games of Mystery Reviews: Dying for Daylight.

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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!

The Hidden by Bill Pronzini (Mystery Book Review)

The Hidden by Bill Pronzini. Non-series. Walker Hardcover, November 2010.

The plot is a little thin and there is not much suspense in what can arguably be called a mystery movie of the week novel, with the focus more on complicated relationships and the threat of a serial killer on the loose. Still, it's relatively short and written in such a way that there's nothing to slow down the pacing.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: The Hidden by Bill Pronzini.

Purchase Options:  |  |  | 

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

Burn Notice Prequel, The Fall of Sam Axe, Premieres April 17th on USA

Two weeks ago we learned that production was underway for the Burn Notice prequel featuring Sam Axe's last mission as a Navy SEAL and directed by series star Jeffrey Donovan.

Now we have an premiere date and title for the USA Network made-for-television film: Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe will air April 17th.

There's still not much more to go on, plot-wise, but as we learn more we'll pass it along.

Search for a Legendary Vampire Potion in Charlaine Harris's Dying for Daylight, New from 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.

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Enter a vampire world as Dahlia, a vampire with a fantastic sense of fashion and a razor-sharp wit! As vampires have been productive and ultimately accepted into society, their ancient vulnerability remains true – they can only emerge at night. When rumors circulate that a legendary potion exists allowing vampires to walk amid the daylight, Dahlia jumps at the chance to further investigate.

Four episodes are featured in this game.

In "Vampire Wars" Dahlia travels to the Cirque Terrible in New Orleans and discovers she's not the only one looking for the legendary sun potion.

In "The Wizard in the Basement" she learns that the ingredients and recipe for the sun potion have been scattered among fleeing circus members.

Dahlia travels to Memphis to track down "The Glutton of Gilborne" in the third episode.

And she comes face to face with her deadly vampire rivals in Charleston in "Inked".

Dahlia is based on a character created by mystery author Charlaine Harris, who featured her in a number of short stories. Harris is also the author of the Southern Vampire mysteries, which have served as the basis for the HBO series True Blood.

Dying for Daylight may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (233.29 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

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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!

Dead Even by Frank Zafiro (Mystery Book Review)

Dead Even by Frank Zafiro. A River City Crime Anthology. Gray Dog Press Trade Paperback, October 2010.

This anthology of short stories consists primarily of character situation studies -- featuring cops and criminals from the author's River City crime novels -- but fortunately these are characters that are interesting and worth spending time with. No doubt, many readers will subsequently seek out the novels to see how they fare in a more fully developed environment.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Dead Even by Frank Zafiro.

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HBO Launches True Blood Behind-the-Scenes Blog

Just a few minutes ago, HBO launched the Inside True Blood blog to give fans of the series behind-the-scenes details on the show's cast, production notes for Season 4, and more.

Executive producer Alan Ball's assistant will report live from the set. In her first post, she says, "Now I don't want to give away too many details, but today’s call sheet includes the words hostage, bites, dinner and Eric. There is also a General Safety Memo When Working with Exotic Animals attached to the front. This is one dangerous place to be, and things are as big and crazy as ever. But it's a long road from now until the premiere of Season 4. There is a lot of work to be done and a lot of waiting to suffer through. But you needn't do that alone, I am here to provide your weekly dose."

True Blood is based on the series of Southern Vampire mysteries by Charlaine Harris.

Jennifer Lawrence May Play Role of Ophelia in Film Adaptation of Savages by Don Winslow

It was just about a year ago that we reported that Oliver Stone was set to produce and direct a film adaptation of Don Winslow's crime novel Savages.

Now, Deadline|Hollywood is reporting that Jennifer Lawrence may play the role of the young woman in a love triangle — and the center of business "negotiations" — that includes two best friends. Lawrence was recently nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in Winter's Bone, one of, if not the, best film (in our opinion) of 2010.

In the book, part-time environmentalist and philanthropist Ben and his ex-mercenary buddy Chon run a Laguna Beach-based marijuana operation, reaping significant profits from their loyal clientele. In the past when their turf was challenged, Chon took care of eliminating the threat. But now they may have come up against something that they can't handle — the Mexican Baja Cartel wants in, and sends them the message that a "no" is unacceptable. When they refuse to back down, the cartel escalates its threat, kidnapping Ophelia (Jennifer Lawrence's potential role), the boys' playmate and confidante. O's abduction sets off a dizzying array of ingenious negotiations and gripping plot twists that will captivate readers eager to learn the costs of freedom and the price of one amazing high.

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

Mystery Bestsellers for February 11, 2011

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending February 11th, 2011 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

Just some minor shuffling among the top four from from last week, with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson remaining at the top of the list. One new title debuts this week.

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Entering the list in 10th position is A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.

Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

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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.