New Carina eBook Mysteries for September 2011

Each month, Omnimystery News is pleased to present 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, Kobo Books, or the Apple iBookstore; click on the banner to the right to be taken to the CarinaPress.com website to browse for other titles.

New ebooks of mystery and suspense for September 2011 from Carina Press include:

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PreView by Alanna Coca
Non-series

Architect Ryann Phillips lives a normal life — except for her psychic dreams. Few of her premonitions make sense, or even cause her to lose sleep, until she dreams about a vicious murder and is compelled to warn the would-be victim.

Attorney Trevor Kearney doesn't believe it when Ryann claims his client's ex wants her dead. Nevertheless, he's intrigued by her ability to hold up to his questioning, and by the unexpected attraction he feels for the beautiful woman. He reluctantly agrees to work together to keep his client safe … and to spend more time with Ryann.

Ryann hasn't met anyone who infuriates and arouses her like Trevor does. He may question her psychic visions, but there's no doubting their sexual chemistry. As they grow closer, their relationship could put them in the path of a killer and inadvertently set the course of events in motion …

(Previously published as Preja View.)

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Only Fear by Anne Marie Becker
A Mindhunters Mystery (1st in series)

After a violent incident with a patient leaves scars on both her mind and body, psychiatrist Dr. Maggie Levine craves isolation. A radio talk show host seems to be the perfect profession, a job where she can help people from a distance while staying safe. When a strange caller begins stalking her on the air and murdering people to get her attention, Maggie realizes she can no longer close herself off from the outside world.

A personal security expert, former Secret Service Agent Ethan Townsend is no stranger to tracking down the most violent monsters of society and bringing them to justice. Still, it will take all of Ethan's skills to protect his new assignment, the irresistible Maggie, from a man intent on teaching her the ultimate lesson in fear …

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A Just Deception by Adrienne Giordano
The Private Protectors (2nd in series)

The protector: Peter Jessup, former Navy SEAL, currently employed by Taylor Security. He likes being the hero — in charge and in control.

His client: Lawyer Isabelle DeRosa. The sexy brunette is the personification of Peter's fantasies. She's willing to get physical but nothing more serious.

The assignment: When Isabelle becomes the prime suspect in the murder of her cousin, Peter is there to protect her and help her find the real killer. Their investigation leads to a big-name charity that seems to draw cultlike followers. Isabelle manages to infiltrate the group and become close to their leader, leaving Peter both jealous and worried for her.

As their search leads to danger, Peter realizes he's falling in love with Isabelle. He wants all of her, but she's too used to guarding herself to let him in …

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Hold Me by Betsy Horvath
Non-series

Katie McCabe's life is going nowhere fast when FBI Special Agent Lucas Vasco jumps into her car at an intersection. Luc, his undercover guise blown, is on the run from the Mafia and expects to be killed at any moment. What he doesn't plan on is finding himself attracted to the firecracker beside him. He feels compelled to protect her when her life is threatened, and insists she stay with him for her own safety.

After learning she has become the target of a psychotic hit man, Katie is whisked off to Luc's house to hide. Once there, she's shocked to discover that she and Luc have an unexpected connection—a connection Luc already knew existed, but withheld. Will their intense attraction reach flashpoint despite their misunderstandings and the pain of the past?

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Deadly Descent by Kaylea Cross
Non-series

Devon Crawford is an officer; Air Force Pararescueman Cam Munro is enlisted. Dev flies medical evacuations; Cam jumps into danger zones to save lives. Dev wants to return home from Afghanistan with her heart untouched; Cam will do anything to win the woman he loves.

Reaching for happiness in a war zone is the last thing Captain Devon Crawford plans, but she can't ignore the feelings she's hidden for so long. Cam's sexy charm and wicked kisses weaken her resistance, but she's too afraid of losing him to give in.

When Dev's helicopter and crew are shot down and set up as bait by a notorious warlord, Cam risks all to save the team. What he doesn't know is that the trap is set for him.

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Dangerous Race by Dee J. Adams
Non-series

Four years ago, race car driver Tracey Bradshaw almost died in a horrific crash. Now scarred inside and out, she's making a comeback, but her team is plagued by a series of "accidents".

When the team leader dies under mysterious circumstances, former driver Mac Reynolds takes charge. The pair clash as Trace resents his high-handed attempts to control her, while Mac fears Trace's recklessness will get her killed. Neither can throttle back the desire that spins out of control whenever they touch. Trace lets herself be seduced when Mac convinces her he finds her beautiful despite her scars, and she begins to hope for more. But Mac knows he's not nearly good enough for Trace …

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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, Kobo eReader BlackBerry and mobile phones.

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

Telemystery: Fall 2011 Prime Time Crime Tuesdays

In about two weeks, the Fall 2011 Prime Time Crime season begins. All this week we'll be profiling new crime dramas (and other shows with mystery, suspense and thriller elements), as well as taking a quick look at the returning series. (All listed times are ET/PT.)

Tuesdays … Body of Proof … NCIS … NCIS: Los Angeles … Unforgettable …

Of the shows mentioned, the new one is Unforgettable (premieres September 20th at 10 PM on CBS).

Unforgettable stars Poppy Montgomery as Carrie Wells, an enigmatic former police detective with a rare condition that makes her memory so flawless that every place, every conversation, every moment of joy and every heartbreak is forever embedded in her mind. It's not just that she doesn't forget anything — she can't; except for one thing: the details that would help solve her sister's long-ago murder.

Carrie has tried to put her past behind her, but she's unexpectedly reunited with her ex-boyfriend and partner, NYPD Detective Al Burns (played by Dylan Walsh), when she consults on a homicide case. Being back on the job after a break feels surprisingly right for Carrie. Despite her conflicted feelings for Al, she decides to permanently join his unit as a detective solving homicides — most notably, the unsolved murder of her sister. All she needs to do is remember.

Meet Carrie Wells in a trailer for the series at the bottom of this post.

Also on CBS Tuesdays, NCIS and its spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles, return with new seasons (9th and 3rd, respectively), both on September 20th in a two-hour block starting at 8 PM.

Over on ABC at 10 PM, Body of Proof airs its second season opener, also on September 20th.

The Mystery Bookshelf: Collusion by Stuart Neville, a Jack Lennon Mystery

The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a world of mystery and suspense, is pleased to feature a new crime novel we recently received from the publisher.

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Collusion by Stuart Neville
A Jack Lennon Mystery
Soho Crime (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: September 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-985-8

About Collusion (from the publisher): Former paramilitary killer Gerry Fegan wanders New York City, hiding from a past he escaped at terrible cost. But he made a fatal mistake: he spared the life of Bull O'Kane, a ruthless man who will stop at nothing to get his revenge. Too many witnesses survived a bloody battle at his border farm, and now he wants them silenced, whether man, woman or child. O'Kane calls the Traveller, an assassin without pity or remorse, a killer of the purest kind.

Back in Belfast, Detective Inspector Jack Lennon, father of one the witnesses, is caught up in a web of official secrets and lies as he tries to uncover the whereabouts of his daughter. The closer he gets to the truth about the events on O'Kane's border farm, the more his superiors instruct him to back off.

When Fegan realises he can't shake off the trail of violence that has followed him across the world, he has no choice but to return to Belfast and confront his past. The Traveller awaits Fegan's return, ready for the fight of his life.

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About the author: Stuart Neville is a partner in a multimedia design business based in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Collusion is marketed as a sequel to The Ghosts of Belfast, which received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2009 for Best Mystery/Thriller.

 Crime novels by Stuart Neville reviewed by Mysterious Reviews: The Ghosts of Belfast (2009) and Collusion (2010).

Purchase Options for Collusion:

Mystery and Suspense Films, New This Week on DVD (110905)

Checking through our list of films currently scheduled for release this week on DVD and/or Blu-ray disc, shown below are those that fall into the mystery, suspense, thriller and adventure categories.

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Purchase/Rental Options

Hanna (2011)

This action-packed suspense thriller stars Saoirse Ronan as the titular Hanna. The movie's tagline reades, "Adapt or die."

Raised by her father (Eric Bana), an ex-CIA agent, in the wilds of Finland Hanna’s upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one. Sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own (Cate Blanchett). As she nears her ultimate target, Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence.

(Rated PG-13; 111 minutes)

OMN Welcomes Crime Novelist R. J. Calsyn

Omnimystery News is pleased to welcome R. J. Calsyn, whose debut mystery is Primal Man (iUniverse Trade Paperback, August 2011).

Today R. J. discusses some of the issues he faced in writing his first novel.

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I have had a life long love affair with mysteries. Graham Greene, Agatha Christie, and Stuart Kaminsky are my favorite authors. When I was chairperson of the psychology department at the University of Missouri-St. Louis there were many times when I wanted to strangle someone in the administration or one of my colleagues. Writing a murder mystery provided a more socially acceptable outlet for venting my frustrations.

Primal Man takes place at Delphi University, a fictional institution in an imaginary town. The merchants in the Delphi Agora include a restaurant, bakery, souvenir shop, and an Oracle. Several characters in the novel consult the Oracle; her prophecies always come true! I chose to set my story in an imaginary setting to give myself more freedom in describing the location, events, and characters.

A gender war is raging at the university between the radical feminists and the sociobiolgists who have established the Program Male Studies (PMS). “Primal Man” is a supporter of the PMS. He is an exhibitionist who never speaks to his victims. He simply leaves an index card with a maxim and a warning. The first card reads, “Men are hunters; women are gathers. Gather yourself home.” The feminists respond to Primal Man and PMS in a number of ways including the creation of an army, the New Amazons, led by Professor Hilda German. The New Amazons dress in combat fatigues and carry signs that say “Stop PMS now!” Although I witnessed frequent skirmishes between feminists and their opponents during my university days, the intensity of the battles in the novel is the creation of an imagination gone wild.

In the first draft of the novel Primal Man was not a fully developed character; he just appeared occasionally, flashed his thing, and left a message. A reviewer suggested that I make him a full blown character and explore his motivation for exposing himself. I followed that advice, and Primal Man became one of the more interesting characters in the novel. His conflict between two religions, Catholicism and sociobiology, escalates throughout the novel.

The gender war provides the context for the featured event of the novel, the murder of Margo Elly. Dr. Elly, professor of biochemistry at the university, has developed “Passion with Protection” which is a spermicide that also increases libido. She recently established the Women in Science scholarship fund using profits from her drug patent. The feminists are convinced that Primal Man or one of the faculty members of the PMS is responsible for her death. However, there are several other suspects including her husband and a former student. Students and colleagues report that Margo Elly was rigid and difficult to get along with. They called her “Ice Queen.” She has many of the characteristics that I detest in a person — rigid, self-centered, haughty, and oblivious to the feelings of others. I purposely chose to make my murder victim a natural scientist, rather than a psychologist, to discourage the inevitable speculation that the victim was someone from my real life.

Heads of large institutions, including universities, often lose site of the main mission of their organization, because they become obsessed with their personal legacy. In my novel Bertha Sinduce, President of Delphi University, is totally ineffectual in dealing with the gender war and the murder of Margo Elly. She dedicates all of the resources of the university to raising money for her monument, the Museum of Medicine (MOM). Eventually she sidelines her management team and long time friends, Donald Speak and Liz Gold, and relies on an outsider, the mysterious Owen Nigel Onan, to raise money for the MOM.

Detective Graham Hunter has the responsibility of catching both Primal Man and Margo Elly’s killer. He is assisted by Maria Flores, a journalist from Chile. My detective shares many of the author’s interests including a love of red wine, Bob Dylan, and Inspector Morse. However, I have little in common with Hunter in terms of his athletic ability and good looks. Maria. Flores has many of the characteristics of my own wife — intelligence, beauty, and enthusiasm for life.

Father Dominic Alongi, chaplain at Delphi University, also assists Hunter with his investigations. Dom and Graham have been friends since grade school. The relationship between these two characters provided a vehicle to explore my own religious doubts. For example, how can a just and loving God allow so much misery in this world? Or, how can a Church that created the Inquisition call itself God’s representative on earth?

The novel is written in the third person omniscient voice which allowed me to tell the story from several points of view (POV). With a single narrator (e.g., the detective) I don’t think I could have conveyed the thoughts and feelings of the characters, particularly Primal Man and Margo Elly, nearly as well. Each chapter is told from the POV of a single character. The name chosen for many of my characters also conveys something about their persona.

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R. J. Calsyn is professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He has written over 100 social science articles on topics such as homelessness, gerontology, social support, self-esteem and achievement, and research methodology. He and his wife, Maria, now spend half of the year in Anna Maria Island, Florida. Bob loves tennis, long walks on the beach, and sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico.

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About Primal Man:

Detective Graham Hunter is faced with catching an exhibitionist, investigating financial misconduct, and solving a murder. Hunter is a pacifist and a student of philosophy — not typical attributes of a cop. He is assisted by Maria Flores, a journalist who was born in Chile.

A gender war at the university is raging between the radical feminists and the sociobiologists who have established the Program in Male Studies (PMS). The exhibitionist, aka Primal Man, is a disciple of the sociobiologists. His attacks become more aggressive as the story progresses. The feminists respond with massive demonstrations and more. Dr. Margo Elly, professor of biochemistry, is the murder victim.

There are many suspects including her husband, a former student, two colleagues, and Primal Man. Clever plot twists, interesting characters, deviant sex, romance, and a surprise ending make for an exciting journey.

UK Rights to Icelandic Thriller Black's Game Secured; US Next?

Entertainment One has secured the UK rights to the film Black's Game, adapted from the 2004 Icelandic crime novel Svartur á leik by Stefán Máni.

The storyline is set in the mid- to late-1990s when the Reykjavik crime and drug scene saw a drastic change from a relatively small and innocent world into a much more aggressive and violent one. The film tells the story of this change through the fictional gang of pushers that took control of Iceland's underworld.

The film, which is currently in post-production, is expected to be shopped at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival. With all the interest in Nordic noir, and the fact that Nicolas Winding Refn is executive producing — his crime thriller Drive, adapted from the novel by James Sallis, opens next week — we expect to see a US distributor soon.

Máni is the author of nine crime novels, none of which (to our knowledge) have been translated into English (though a couple have been translated into French and German).

(Source: The Hollywood Reporter.)

Telemystery: Fall 2011 Prime Time Crime Mondays

Two weeks from today, the Fall 2011 Prime Time Crime season starts in earnest. All this week we'll be profiling new crime dramas (and other shows with mystery, suspense and thriller elements), as well as taking a quick look at the returning series. (All listed times are ET/PT.)

Mondays … Castle … Hawaii Five-0 … Terra Nova …

New this season is the sci-fi thriller Terra Nova (premieres September 26th at 8 PM on Fox). Produced in part by Steven Spielberg, the tagline for this show reads, "An epic family adventure 85 million years in the making."

In the year 2149, the world is dying. The planet is overdeveloped and overcrowded, with the majority of plant and animal life extinct. The future of mankind is in doubt, and its only hope for survival is in the distant past. When scientists at the FERMI Particle Accelerator unexpectedly discover a fracture in time that makes it possible to construct a portal into primeval history, the bold notion is born to resettle humanity in the past — a second chance to rebuild civilization and get it right this time.

Terra Nova follows the Shannon family as they join the Tenth Pilgrimage of settlers to Terra Nova, on their incredible journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as a small part of a daring experiment to save the human race.

Upon arrival they are told that Terra Nova is a place of new opportunities and fresh beginnings, but all is not as idyllic as it initially appears. Along with blue skies, towering waterfalls and lush vegetation, the surrounding terrain is teeming with danger — and not just of the man-eating dinosaur variety. There is also a splinter colony of renegades, who are vehemently opposed to the success of the colony.

Even more threatening than what lies outside the protective walls of the colony is the chilling possibility that something sinister is happening inside Terra Nova. The Shannons will come to suspect that not everyone on this mission has the same idea of how to best save mankind; in fact, there may be forces intent on destroying this new world before it even begins.

Watch a trailer for the series at the bottom of this post.

Two returning series are Castle (returns for a fourth season, September 19th at 10 PM on ABC) and Hawaii Five-0 (returns for a second season, September 19th at 10 PM on CBS).

On Castle's third season finale, NYPD Captain Roy Montgomery, who had a connection to the unsolved murder of Beckett's mother, was shot and killed by a man tied to that years-old crime. As the episode came to a close, Beckett, who was speaking about her Captain at his funeral, took a bullet from a sniper's rifle and was last seen on the ground with life fading out of her. Penny Johnson Jerald joins the cast as NYPD Captain Victoria Gates.

In the opener for Hawaii Five-0, while McGarrett sits in prison awaiting trial for the murder of the governor, Danny brings him a surprise visitor to help clear him. Meanwhile, Kono is suspended for the force, pending an internal investigation.

The Mystery Bookshelf: The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly, a Joe Sandilands Mystery

The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a world of mystery and suspense, is pleased to feature a new crime novel we recently received from the publisher.

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The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly
A Joe Sandilands Mystery (1st in series)
Soho Crime (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: September 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1-61695-002-6

About The Last Kashmiri Rose (from the publisher): In a land of saffron sunsets and blazing summer heat, an Englishwoman has been found dead, her wrists slit, her body floating in a bathtub of blood and water. But is it suicide or murder? The case falls to Scotland Yard inspector Joe Sandilands, who survived the horror of the Western Front and has endured six sultry months in English-ruled Calcutta. Sandilands is ordered to investigate, and soon discovers that there have been other mysterious deaths, hearkening sinister ties to the present case.

Now, as the sovereignty of Britain is in decline and an insurgent India is on the rise, Sandilands must navigate the treacherous corridors of political decorum to bring a cunning killer to justice … knowing the next victim is already marked to die.

This is a reissue of this first book in the series, originally published in hardcover in 2001 (UK: Constable) and 2002 (US: Carroll & Graf).

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About Barbara Cleverly: Born in the north of England and a graduate of Durham University, this former teacher now lives in Cambridge. Her Joe Sandilands series, set against the background of the Indian Empire, was inspired by the contents of a battered old tin trunk that she found in her attic.

 Crime novels by Barbara Cleverly reviewed by Mysterious Reviews: Folly du Jour (2008) and Strange Images of Death (2010).

Purchase Options for The Last Kashmiri Rose:

Telemystery: Criminal Minds, Midsomer Murders, Mike Hammer and more, New This Week on DVD

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

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An elite team of FBI profilers who analyze the country's most twisted criminal minds, anticipating their next moves before they strike again is the premise behind Criminal Minds. "The solution lies within" is the series tagline.

Joe Mantegna stars as Senior Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi, a founding member of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, who returns to help the team solve new cases, while pursuing some unfinished business of his own. Each member brings his or her own area of expertise to the table as they pinpoint predators' motivations and identify their emotional triggers in the attempt to stop them.

Criminal Minds: Season Six is available on DVD and iTunes (click on the icons above, left for more details), and consists of 24 episodes that originally aired on CBS from September 2010 through May 2011.

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Forest Whitaker and Janeane Garofalo star in Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, a short-lived spin-off from Criminal Minds.

No doubt part of the problem with the series and the reason it lasted just one half season — it premiered mid-season — was that it failed to sufficiently differentiate itself from the original. Here, Whitaker stars as Special Agent Sam Cooper, who leads an elite team of agents with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU, see also the Criminal Minds Season Six description, above), which uses unconventional methods of investigation and aggressive tactics to capture the nation's most nefarious criminals.

Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior: The Complete Series (also known as "The DVD Edition") is available on DVD and iTunes (click on the icons above, left for more details), and consists of 13 episodes that originally aired on CBS from February through May 2011.

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John Gavin stars as lawman Harrison Destry in the western drama Destry.

Based on the popular films starring James Stewart, who played a character named Tom Destry, the TV series features his son Harrison, a man wrongly convicted of a crime and sent to prison. Upon his release, Destry roams the west searching for the men who framed him, but, like his father, his natural inclination was to avoid violence when he could

Long thought to be lost forever, Destry is re-mastered from original prints recently re-discovered in the Universal vaults, which is sure to please fans both old and new.

Destry: The Complete Series is available on DVD (click on the icons above, left for more details), and consists of 13 episodes that originally aired on ABC during the Spring of 1964.

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Immersive. Compelling. Hypnotic. Brilliantly imaginative. Endlessly thrilling. All describe the sci-fi thriller Fringe.

The Fringe team escapes from the parallel universe … except for FBI Agent Olivia Dunham (played by Anna Torv), trapped in the other world and replaced in ours by her double, who turns Peter Bishop's (Joshua Jackson) and Olivia's tentative relationship into a love affair. Then Olivia returns, bonds of trust fray, ever more bizarre and terrifying phenomena occur, and secrets that stretch back to 1985 threaten to destroy our universe. Or theirs.

Fringe: Season Three is available on DVD, Amazon Instant Video, and iTunes (click on the icons above, left for more details), and consists of 22 episodes that originally aired on Fox from September 2010 through May 2011.

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Homicide, blackmail, greed, and betrayal: just a taste of what goes on behind the well-trimmed hedges of Midsomer County in Midsomer Murders.

Based on characters created by crime novelist Caroline Graham, this long-running series stars John Nettles as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby and Jason Hughes as Detective Sergeant Ben Jones.

Midsomer Murders: Set Eighteen is available on DVD (click on the icons above, left for more details), and consists of three episodes — "Small Mercies", "The Creeper", and "The Great and the Good" — that originally aired in the UK in late 2009 and early 2010. (Check back with us later in the week for a review of this set.)

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New York City. 1958. In these concrete canyons, everybody's got an angle: The beauty with the sob story who killed her old man. The harmless geezer who's in bed with the mob. The kidnapped broad who's really a fraud. When a case gets too twisted for the cops, only one man can straighten it out: two-fisted gumshoe Mike Hammer.

Darren McGavin stars as the hard-boiled private eye, based on a character created by crime novelist Mickey Spillane.

Mike Hammer: The Complete Series is available on DVD (click on the icons above, left for more details), and consists of 78 episodes that originally aired in syndication during 1958 and 1959.

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