Second Star by Dana Stabenow is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Second Star by Dana Stabenow as today's free mystery ebook. 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 we urge you to download it while it is still available for free.

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Second Star by Dana Stabenow
A Star Svensdotter Novel
Gere Donovan Press

Dana Stabenow is probably best known for her two mystery series set in Alaska. But in the early 1990s she also wrote a trilogy of science fiction thrillers featuring Esther "Star" Svensdotter. Second Star is the first of these books.

About Second Star (from the publisher): When the Betelgeuse message was detected, it changed a lot of things on Earth. We began to look seriously outward, not with the heady optimism of the early days, but with deliberate calculation. We knew that Someone was out there, and that eventually, they’d be coming. If Earth didn’t occupy the High Frontier, it could be ours to lose.

Esther “Star” Svensdotter’s job is overseeing the completion of the American Alliance’s first O’Neill cylinder — a massive space hab capable of supporting thousands of colonists. It’s just weeks away from commissioning, and she’ll be damned if Luddite terrorists, squabbling bureaucrats, military takeovers or rogue AIs will stand in the way. Frontier justice on Ellfive sometimes involves an airlock — you don’t want to be on the wrong side of justice. Or the wrong side of Star Svensdotter.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

Apple Free iBook Download Link (via iTunes).

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Murdoch Mysteries Renewed for 6th Season by CBC

Here's some good news.

Last month we reported that Citytv had canceled the historical crime drama Murdoch Mysteries, even though the series was popular with viewers.

Now we're learning that CBC has picked up the series, with production on the sixth season to begin in the spring of 2012.

Murdoch Mysteries is based on characters created by crime novelist Maureen Jennings, who featured William Murdoch, a turn-of-the-20th-century Toronto police detective played by Yannick Bisson in the television series, in seven mysteries published between 1997 and 2007. Her daughter, Christina Jennings, a producer on the show, says that "the series has many stories left to tell and that she looks forward to bringing the show to a national audience."

(Source: The Globe and Mail.)

Telemystery: NBC's Prime Suspect Ceases Production

Yesterday we reported that Prime Suspect was left off NBC's mid-season schedule … though the series had not (yet) been officially canceled by the network.

To be sure, NBC still hasn't confirmed the series demise, but the production crew have been told that the episode they're currently working on — the 13th — will be their last.

It's certainly not fair of us to criticize the show since we haven't seen a single episode of it, but this remake was always going to be compared to the original UK version and it was unlikely to ever be compared favorably. We never did understand — or appreciate — the risk/reward value of the show in that context and why NBC believed they had a winner on their hands. They clearly didn't.

Review: Champagne for Buzzards by Phyllis Smallman

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Champagne for Buzzards by Phyllis Smallman.

Razorbill to Publish Novel about a Teenage Detective with Asperger's Syndrome

Razorbill, the young adult imprint of Penguin, has announced that it will publish the first novel by screenwriters Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz (Andromeda, Fringe, X-Men: First Class) titled Colin Fischer.

The titular character is a 14-year-old boy with Asperger's Syndrome, who forms an unlikely partnership with a bully accused of shooting a gun in their school cafeteria. Colin believes his former tormenter is innocent, and sets out to prove it.

Miller and Stentz also plan to adapt their book for film.

(Source: Deadline.)

Crime Mini-Series Whitechapel and Aspen, New This Week on DVD

In the 6-part BBC crime drama Whitechapel: The Ripper Returns from 2009, Detective Inspector Joseph Chandler (Rupert Penry-Jones) arrives in London's working-class Whitechapel, site of Jack the Ripper's 19th-century rampage, to head up a murder inquiry. Detective Ray Miles (Philip Davis), a hard-bitten veteran, is none too happy to report to such a posh fellow, but Chandler gives the case his all, making the rest of the team look like slackers.

After the first brutal killing, Edward Buchan (Steve Pemberton), a local Ripperologist, suggests that the culprit may be a copycat.

As the murder rate rises and clues are scarce, this unlikely trio sets out to solve the most famous unsolved murder case in history — Jack the Ripper — the first internationally known serial killer. Will the unlikely team succeed where 120 years ago others failed, and solve the most famous unsolved murder case in history?

Television mini-series adaptations of popular fiction were at one time all the rage, and Aspen, loosely adapted from the 1973 novel The Adversary by Bart Spicer and airing on NBC over three consecutive nights in November 1977, is a prime example of such.

Filmed on location in Aspen, Colorado — the winter playground of the rich and famous — this sprawling 3-part miniseries of sex, greed, ambition, and murder details the trial of Lee Bishop (Perry King), a local man who was arrested, tried and sentenced to die for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl, a crime for which Bishop is not guilty. As the years pass and Bishop sits on death row, his attorney and friend Tom Keating (Sam Elliott), does everything in his power to clear Bishop's name and find the true killer.

NBC Announces 2011/2012 Mid-Season Schedule; Prime Suspect Canceled?

NBC announced its mid-season schedule today and it seems — though there has been no official announcement about this — that Prime Suspect has been canceled. (To be perfectly honest, we thought this remake or reimagination or whatever the marketing folks wanted to call it was a terrible idea from day one.)

Harry's Law appears to have been given a full season order as well as the new crime drama Grimm. The Firm, based on the John Grisham novel and taking place some 10 years after the events portrayed in the film adaptation, premieres Sunday January 8th, 2012; it's regular time slot will be Thursdays at 10 PM (ET/PT).

Clue, the 5-part Miniseries, Premieres November 14th on The Hub

We have to admit that until about 10 minutes ago we had never heard of the cable station "The Hub". But then we learned of Clue, a 5-part mini-series airing on The Hub, and that caught our attention.

Beginning tonight — actually about 45 minutes ago as we write this, and we apologize for the late notice — you can follow six very different young sleuths as they witness a terrible crime and embark on a mysterious adventure they could never have imagined. Along the way, they find they have more in common than they thought, as they uncover hidden treasures and decipher cryptic knowledge to reveal a dark and secret society.

Clue is based on the characters and weapons — but not locations? — of the crime-solving game of the same name. It begins tonight, November 14th, 2011, on The Hub, and continues daily through November 17th. All five episodes will repeat back-to-back on November 19th. Watch a promo for the series below.

Telemystery: Crime Story and It Takes a Thief, 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 two complete series sets being released this week.

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Set in 1963, Crime Story revolves around the Chicago Police Major Crime Unit headed by tough-as-nails Lieutenant Mike Torello (Dennis Farina) and his obsessive pursuit of slick and ruthless gangster Ray Luca (Anthony Denison), one of organized crime’s brightest young hoods. As Luca murders, steals, and extorts his way to the top from the mean streets of Chicago to the glitter of Las Vegas, Torello remains hot on his trail.

Crime Story: The Complete Series is available on DVD and includes the two-hour pilot plus both seasons of the series that originally aired on NBC from September 1986 through May 1988.

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International locales, beautiful women, guest stars galore … It Takes a Thief is at long last coming to DVD.

Smooth, suave and sophisticated, Alexander Mundy (Robert Wagner) is the world's greatest cat burglar. Now, he's plying his trade as the SIA's most debonair spy — traipsing the globe, seducing beautiful women and embezzling fortunes, all on behalf of Uncle Sam and the U.S. government.

It Takes a Thief: The Complete Series is available on DVD and includes all 66 episodes from the three seasons that originally aired on ABC from January 1968 through March 1970. Also included is an extended feature-length version of the pilot, "Magnificent Thief".

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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.

New Trailer for The Hunger Games

A new full-length trailer for the film The Hunger Games debuted this morning; we've embedded it below.

Adapted from the bestselling young adult thriller by Suzanne Collins and set in the near future, The Hunger Games stars Jennifer Lawrence as 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, chosen to participate as a tribute in an annual live televised event that requires one boy and one girl from each of Panem's 12 districts to compete against each other … to the death.

Adapted and directed by Gary Ross, the film opens in theaters March 23rd, 2012.