A&E's two-night 4-hour mini-series adaptation of Stephen King's 1998 suspense thriller Bag of Bones begins tomorrow, Sunday December 11th, at 9 PM (ET/PT).
Four years after the sudden death of his wife, forty-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan (played by Pierce Brosnan) is still grieving. Unable to write, and plagued by vivid nightmares set at the western Maine summerhouse he calls Sara Laughs, Mike reluctantly returns to the lakeside getaway. There, he finds his beloved Yankee town held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore (William Schallert), whose vindictive purpose is to take his three-year-old granddaughter, Kyra (Caitlin Carmichael), away from her widowed young mother, Mattie (Melissa George). As Mike is drawn into Mattie and Kyra's struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations and escalating terrors. What are the forces that have been unleashed here — and what do they want of Mike Noonan?
Part 2 of the series airs Monday December 12th, also at 9 PM (ET/PT).
Bag of Bones was the winner of the 1998 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel.
Watch a sneak peak of the series below.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
A&E's 4-Hour Adaptation of Stephen King's Bag of Bones Begins Sunday, December 11th
Lifetime Cancels Against the Wall
Lifetime has elected not to renew its freshman crime drama Against the Wall for a second season. The series, which premiered this past summer, ran for 13 episodes.
Rachel Carpani stars as Abby Kowalski, a single Chicago police officer who finally is promoted to detective and assigned to Internal Affairs. But her dream job turns out a nightmare for her close-knit family of cops.
We have to admit we didn't see a single episode of the series. Though we follow television news quite closely and knew that the cable network had ordered the series, we did not know it was on the schedule until the second episode or so. It doesn't seem as if Lifetime did much to promote it, so it's little surprise that it has been canceled. (Looking back on our notes, we see that at the same time Lifetime ordered Against the Wall, it also ordered Exit 19, later renamed The Protector … which was canceled some time ago.)
Three Books by Rick Dewhurst are Today's Second Selection of Free MystereBooks
MystereBooks is pleased to three books by Rick Dewhurst as today's second selection of free mystery ebooks. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically for a limited time only or 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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The Good Book Club by Rick Dewhurst
A Jane Sunday Mystery
Quotidian Books
Published earlier this year, this is the first book in the author's second PI series; his other mysteries feature Christian gumshoe Joe LaFlam (see other books below).
About The Good Book Club (from the publisher): Scheming to inherit the powerful pulpit of a mega-church, a pastor hires P.I. Jane Sunday to verify suspicions his father-in-law, the senior pastor, is having an affair. The case turns uglier when one dead pastor is found floating naked in his swimming pool, and Jane is hired by his widow to hunt the killer. Hot on the murder trail Jane is herself pursued by dreamboat lawyer Bertrand, but lasting memories of her abusive father inhibit the budding relationship, especially when questions of his credibility arise. Who killed the pastor? Is Bertrand true-blue?
Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.
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Bye Bye Bertie by Rick Dewhurst
A Joe LaFlam Mystery
Quotidian Books
About Bye Bye Bertie (from the publisher): Joe LaFlam's struggle to be free from the fear of dying destitute and alone in an alley, under cardboard, just another discard of a world gone bad. His fear is magnified by doubts about his chosen profession. He has long sought to be a successful detective, but he has been thwarted by his incompetence and haunted by his insecurity. Bachelor LaFlam, who lives at home with his mother and who moonlights driving cab to pay the rent on his detective office, equates marriage with bliss and a successful career with bread on his future family's table. To be free once and for all, Joe vows to look death in the face by undertaking a desperate 21-day fast to twist God's arm to help him solve a prominent kidnapping case, make some good money, and get the girl, any girl. With God's help Joe figures the odds are now good that he won't end up dead and alone in some big-city alley under cardboard or newspapers or something bad like that.
Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.
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My Fear Lady by Rick Dewhurst
A Joe LaFlam Mystery
Quotidian Books
About My Fear Lady (from the publisher): Christian gumshoe Joe LaFlam is wallowing in an existential crisis when the stunning Sissy Smith slinks into his office with a plea for help. Her man Jake Dano has been lured away by another woman and led into the bowels of Spelunkers Global, a secret society bent on world domination with whom Joe previously tangled in the first of the LaFlam mystery series, Bye Bye Bertie. Joe is eager to take the case, knowing that exposing the scum will solidify his professional reputation and reinforce his earthly purpose. He goes undercover underground, where, entrenched as one of them, earthly temptations abound.
Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.
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For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.
Mortal Sin by Paul Levine is Today's Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Mortal Sin by Paul Levine as today's free mystery ebook. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically for a limited time only or 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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Mortal Sin by Paul Levine
A Jake Lassiter Mystery (4th in series)
Nittany Valley Productions
About Mortal Sin (from the publisher): Jake Lassiter has an ethical dilemma that isn’t on the Bar exam.
He’s sleeping with Gina Florio and defending Gina’s husband Nicky in a wrongful death suit. Complicating the issue: Nicky is mob-connected and homicidal in his own right.
It all begins when environmentalist Peter Tupton freezes to death on Florio’s property on the hottest day of a sweltering Miami summer. Hired to defend Florio in a civil suit, Lassiter becomes convinced that Tupton’s death was no accident.
The trail of evidence takes Lassiter deep into the Everglades, where Florio has hatched a scheme to bring casino gambling to an Indian reservation. But that’s only a cover for a more sinister ploy that oozes corruption, blood, and money. One false move, and Jake will be gator bait.
It’s the toughest case yet for the ex-linebacker, ex-public defender, ex-a-lot-of-things. Hard-boiled and philosophical, the savvy lawyer lives by his own rules. “They don’t call us sharks for our ability to swim.” In a world of deceit, perversity, and mayhem, he risks body and soul for truth, justice and the Lassiter Way.
Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.
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For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.
Christmas is Murder by C. S. Challinor is Today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Christmas is Murder by C. S. Challinor as today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal. The deal price of $1.99 is valid only for today, Saturday, December 10, 2011.
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Christmas is Murder by C. S. Challinor
A Rex Graves Mystery
Midnight Ink
Scottish barrister Reginald "Rex" Graves is introduced in this series debut. In our review, we said that the book is "an engaging whodunit populated with an interesting and imaginative mix of characters and a very appealing and charming sleuth."
About Christmas is Murder (from the publisher): Christmas in the English countryside — what could be more charming? Not even a blizzard can keep Rex Graves away from Swanmere Manor, a historic hotel in East Sussex. But instead of Christmas cheer, the red-haired Scottish barrister finds a dead guest. Was it a stroke that killed old Mr. Lawry? Or an almond tart laced with poison?
When more guests die, all hopes for a jolly holiday are dashed. Worst of all, the remote mansion is buried under beastly snow. No one can leave. Confined with a killer, no one can enjoy their tea without suspicion and scrutiny. Rex takes it upon himself to solve the mystery, but the most intriguing evidence — a burnt biography of President George W. Bush — offers few clues. Could the killer be the sherry-swilling handyman? The gay antiques dealer with a biting wit? The quarreling newlyweds? Surely, it's not Helen D'arcy, the lovely lass Rex seems to be falling for ...
Read our review of Christmas is Murder by C. S. Challinor.
Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.
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Friday, December 09, 2011
Crime Fiction Books that When Published Will Catch the Attention of Hollywood
The Hollywood Reporter announced today that it is beginning a regular — no definition on what this means … weekly, monthly, otherwise slow news day? — post on recent book deals that "will catch the attention of consumers and Hollywood when they are published."
In their inaugural piece, they highlight five soon-to-be-published books, three young adult titles and two crime fiction. We're going to focus on the latter two here.
First up is Black Irish by Stephan Tatly, the first in a series about a Harvard-educated policewoman solving crimes in Buffalo (NY). The book itself involves — no surprise here — a serial killer, who taunts the heroine with cryptic messages. It is Tatly's first work of fiction and is expected to be published by Ballantine Bantam Dell in 2013.
Next is Fallen Angels by Connie Dial, with a storyline that seems far more interesting … at least to us. A newly promoted LAPD captain discovers that her husband's name shows up on a list of Hollywood's most powerful movers and shakers, found at the scene of a dead Hollywood starlet. Dial — a former head of LAPD's Hollywood Division — is the author of another mystery series, which features LAPD Internal Affairs sergeant Mike Turner. Fallen Angels will be published by The Permanent Press.
Not much in the way of reasoning is given by THR as to why these two books merit attention other than they feature female cops and are set in specific locations. Here's hoping future editions of this column spell out a little more as to why their highlighted titles are more deserving than hundreds of other books published every month.
(Source: The Hollywood Reporter.)
Mystery Bestsellers for the Week Ending December 09, 2011
A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending December 9th, 2011 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.
The Litigators by John Grisham remains atop the list this week, with the next two books — V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton and Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich — swapping positions from their spots last week. Two new titles debut this week.
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Kay Scarpetta returns in her 19th case in Red Mist by Patricia Cornwell.
Determined to find out what happened to her former deputy chief Jack Fielding, murdered six months earlier, Kay Scarpetta travels to the Georgia Prison for Women, where an inmate has information not only on Fielding, but also on a string of grisly killings. The murder of an Atlanta family years ago, a young woman on death row, and the inexplicable deaths of homeless people as far away as California seem unrelated. But Scarpetta discovers connections that compel her to conclude that what she thought ended with Fielding's death and an attempt on her own life is only the beginning of something far more destructive: a terrifying terrain of conspiracy and potential terrorism on an international scale. And she is the only one who can stop it.
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P. D. James draws the characters of Jane Austen’s beloved novel Pride and Prejudice into a tale of murder and emotional mayhem in Death Comes to Pemberley.
It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy’s magnificent estate. Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable. Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. They have two fine sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles. Elizabeth’s sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; her father visits often; there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy’s sister Georgiana. And preparations are under way for their much-anticipated annual autumn ball.
Then, on the eve of the ball, the patrician idyll is shattered. A coach careens up the drive carrying Lydia, Elizabeth’s disgraced sister, who with her husband, the very dubious Wickham, has been banned from Pemberley. She stumbles out of the carriage, hysterical, shrieking that Wickham has been murdered. With shocking suddenness, Pemberley is plunged into a frightening mystery.
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For more mystery books news, 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.
Thursday, December 08, 2011
First Poster for Bones Spin-Off The Finder
Fox has released a kind of silly poster for its upcoming Bones spin-off, The Finder … a different kind of detective.
Geoff Stults stars as Walter Sherman, whose resulting brain damage from the explosion of an IED in Iraq transformed him from someone skilled at recovering people and things into something much more extraordinary: a Finder. Now Walter uses his odd "power" to locate almost anything for about anyone.
We're not quite sure what to make of this series. Clearly the producers are going for a light, comic touch here but based on what little we've seen to date, it almost seems they're trying too hard to win us over. We won't have long to see one way or the other; the series premires on Thursday, January 12th, 2012.
Watch a really old trailer for the series from last spring below.
A&E Announces Cast, Premiere Date of Mini-Series Adaptation of Robin Cook's Coma
A&E announced today that its 4-hour mini-series adaptation of Robin Cook's 1977 medical thriller Coma will premiere on Memorial Day 2012.
Produced by Ridley and Tony Scott, the all-star cast includes Richard Dreyfuss, Ellen Burstyn, James Woods, Geena Davis, Lauren Ambrose and Steven Pasquale. Production has already begun in Atlanta.
The storyline involves a doctor, who discovers that something sinister is going on in her hospital after routine procedures send more than a few seemingly healthy patients into comas on the operating table.
Coma was previously adapted as a theatrical film in 1978 starring Genevieve Bujold and Michael Dogulas and directed by Michael Crichton.
Review: Very Bad Men by Harry Dolan
Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Very Bad Men by Harry Dolan.
