Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120423)

Here is today's list of the top bestselling free Kindle mysteries, suspense novels and thrillers.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is updated hourly, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

Telemystery: Poirot, New This Week on DVD and Blu-ray Disc

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 one series being released this week.

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Acorn Media continues releasing its series of original Poirot episodes, remastered and in their original UK broadcast order with this fourth set.

David Suchet stars as the dapper Belgian private detective in three feature-length made-for-television movies, based on Agatha Christie's novels: The ABC Murders, Death in the Clouds, and One, Two, Buckle My Shoe.

The ABC Murders also stars Hugh Fraser as Captain Arthur Hastings though Philip Jackson as Chief Inspector Japp appears in all three. (A bit of trivia: In the novels, One, Two, Buckle My Shoe marks the final appearance of Inspector Japp.)

Poirot: Series Four is available on DVD and Blu-ray disc and consists of these three episodes that originally aired on ITV as its fourth season during January 1992.

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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.

ITV Commissions Murder Mystery Mini-Series The Bletchley Circle

ITV has commissioned a murder mystery mini-series based on four (fictional) women, who worked at the (real-life) Bletchley Park.

Titled The Bletchley Circle, the 3-part series will star Anna Maxwell Martin, Rachael Stirling, Sophie Rundle, and Julie Graham as four ordinary women with an extraordinary flair for code-breaking and razor-sharp intelligence skills.

Set in 1951, Susan, Millie, Lucy and Jean have returned to their normal lives modestly setting aside the part they played in producing crucial intelligence which helped the Allies to victory and shortened the war.

Behind Susan's conventional exterior as a 1950's housewife and mother, there's a steely determination you underestimate at your peril. Seemingly unadventurous and conservative on the surface, she is a force to be reckoned with. She just hasn't done anything about it for the last 8 years.

Until now that is … and the unresolved murders of Jane Hart and Patricia Oakes. With her handwritten charts of numbers, dates and times, and stretched lines of wool connecting pins to clips, Susan has spotted a pattern of behavior no-one else has …

Susan goes to the police only to be met with utter skepticism by the desk sergeant. Unaware of her Bletchley background, the police refuse to take Susan's theory seriously. She quickly realizes she can only begin to crack the murders and bring the culprit to justice with the help of her former friends: Bohemian Millie, speaker of fourteen languages and with a streetwise approach to life; Lucy whose youthful, naïve exterior masks a brilliant memory for data recall; and Jean, the methodical no-nonsense organizer with valuable access to key records and documents.

Filming is expected to begin at the end of April.

For more information about Bletchley Park, Sinclair McKay recently published a compendium of memories of the people who once inhabited the Buckinghamshire country house in The Secret Life of Bletchley Park.

(Source: Press release.)

New Carina eBook Mysteries for April 2012

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 April 2012 from Carina Press include one subtitled "Steampunk Noir", something we may have to check out ourselves as we have absolutely no idea what "steampunk" means!

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Cruel Numbers by Christopher Beats
Non-series

After the North loses the War of Southern Secession, money buys power in the Magnocracy, and people can disappear in a blink. War veteran Donovan Schist's specialty is finding these missing persons. There isn't much money in it, but he sleeps a little better.

This time, Donovan is looking for a girl named Bridget Cleary. Her family's had no word from her for months. Donovan's certain he'll find her belly-up, but it seems her talent for analytical machines has made her a valuable asset to the powers that be — an asset that they're determined to keep hidden and out of reach. In over his head, Donovan enlists his friend Verhalen to help. The eccentric inventor may be unstable, but his steam-powered gadgets give Donovan the edge.

Donovan's no stranger to the rougher edges of society, but when the usual threats turn to attacks on his life, it quickly becomes clear that someone very important does not want him to find Bridget Cleary …

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Acceptable Risks by Natalie J. Damschroder
Non-series

When security expert Jason Templeton's team is ambushed while protecting a weapons manufacturer vital to U.S. interests, he risks his life to save the man's daughter … and loses. Unbeknownst to Jason, his mentor had been funding experimental medical procedures after losing his young wife. Using the untested drugs, Jason is brought back to life, stronger and faster than before, but also vulnerable in new ways. He's determined to find the traitor in their midst, who is after the miracle drug.

That means protecting the brilliant scientist Lark Madrassa. Their attraction and compatibility are undeniable, but Jason tries to deny his growing feelings for her, thinking he is too damaged. When Lark's father is kidnapped they have to rely on each other in a dangerous plot to uncover the double agent. Before, Jason always accepted the risks — but what about when the life of the woman he loves is on the line?

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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.

Antiques Bizarre by Barbara Allan is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Antiques Bizarre by Barbara Allan as today's free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Antiques Bizarre by Barbara Allan
A Brandy Borne, Trash and Treasures Mystery
Publisher: Kensington

This is the fourth mystery (of five to date; the sixth publishes next month) by the husband and wife writing team of Max Allan Collins and Barbara Collins.

About Antiques Bizarre (from the publisher): Spring has sprung a major leak in far-from-serene Serenity, as the Mississippi River drops in for an extended stay. With homes and businesses flooded, how better to help the town recover then by staging a church bazaar?

Brandy Borne knows her mother Vivian's plan, however, is more likely to lean toward bizarre, especially when she hears mother wheedle a reclusive Russian heiress into donating the last Faberge egg ever created! When the winning bidder turns up mortally scrambled, Brandy and mother cook up a plan to crack the case of this killer … who is one seriously bad egg.

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

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

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for April 23, 2012

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 D E G K L O R W

In a series of mysteries by Judi McCoy, amateur sleuth Ellie Engleman has this job (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!

Surface Tension by Christine Kling is Today's Fourth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Surface Tension by Christine Kling as today's fourth free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Surface Tension by Christine Kling
A Seychelle Sullivan Mystery
Publisher: Tell-Tale Press

This is the first mystery of four in this series.

About Surface Tension (from the publisher): Years ago Seychelle Sullivan had the chance to save a person's life. But on that summer night in Florida, lost in a world of teenage resentment and loneliness, Seychelle was not able to feel any pain but her own. Today Seychelle captains her father's forty-six-foot salvage boat out of Fort Lauderdale's New River. She's seen change sweep through South Florida, and witnessed friends and lovers come and go. But she's never escaped that one moment when she could have made a difference and didn't. Now each time she rescues a ship in distress, a little hope is born in her again.

On a steamy Florida morning Seychelle is answering a Mayday call launched from the five-million-dollar Broward yacht called Top Ten. Racing her fiercest competitor for salvage rights, Seychelle has a personal stake in this rescue: Her former lover, Neal Garrett, is the yacht's hired skipper. But being the first to reach Top Ten will lead Seychelle to a bloody payday. A beautiful woman has been stabbed to death on-board. And Garrett is nowhere to be found.

Even on shore, the pressures are mounting — Seychelle owes money on her boat, and her love life is in shambles. Within twenty-four hours of finding the dead woman and towing Top Ten out of the surf, Seychelle realizes that she has stepped into a lethal business involving some of South Florida's sleaziest criminals.

While the police treat her as the prime suspect, Seychelle begins to unravel a tangled plot centered on a strip club where "all the girls are tens on top." Discovering the sordid secrets of the owner of the yacht she rescued and the fate of the man she had once loved, Seychelle is connecting human predators with innocent victims, and a mystery on land with a mystery buried deep beneath the sea. Now, to find out what really happened to Neal Garrett, Seychelle must retrace his last steps, through two murders and a horrific crime wave, to a final confrontation with someone who may want to kill her … or be her salvation.

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

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

Review: The Mastermind Plot by Angie Frazier

We've just published our Review of The Mastermind Plot by Angie Frazier. A Suzanna Snow Mystery. Scholastic Hardcover, March 2012.

Our rating:

Available to purchase from …

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120422)

Here is today's list of the top bestselling free Kindle mysteries, suspense novels and thrillers.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is updated hourly, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

Mysterious Press Publishes Dozens of New eBook Titles

Here's some good news we missed seeing earlier in the week. Mysterious Press has just released 37 new ebook editions of mysteries written by Jeremiah Healy (9 books), Gar Anthony Haywood (6 books), Jane Langton (7 books), and Stephen Marlowe (14 books). (Each author's name above is linked to the list of Kindle titles on Amazon.com, though other formats are also available.)

Of these, we are probably most excited by the Healy books, all of which we've read. We were living in Boston at the time they were originally published — the late 1980s and early 1990s — so some of the appeal was no doubt that we were familiar with many of the locations referenced in the books. We've listed the "new" ebook titles below by Healy — the first nine books in the John Francis Cuddy series, in order — but encourage you to check out all the other newly published ebooks by Mysterious Press.

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Blunt Darts

John Cuddy's heart is buried in a cemetery overlooking Boston harbor. His wife, Beth, fought her cancer for nearly a year, and when she died Cuddy gave up his morning runs in favor of nightly benders. Two months after her death, he is forced out of his job as an insurance investigator for refusing to sign his name to a phony claim. Now he is filing for unemployment, cutting back on his drinking, and attempting to become a private eye.

His first real case comes in the form of Valerie Jacobs, a junior high teacher who was friends with Beth. Her star pupil, the son of a Massachusetts judge, has vanished, and the local police have no leads. To make his name as a detective, Cuddy searches for a boy who's too smart to be found, and whose father would prefer his son never return.

The Staked Goat

Winner of the 1987 Shamus Award for Best PI Hardcover.

As military policemen, John Francis Cuddy and Al Sachs bonded while patrolling the wild streets of American-occupied Saigon. Over a decade later, Cuddy is a private detective making a living in Boston's back alleys. Awoken by a ringing phone at seven a.m., Cuddy is shocked to hear Sachs asking to meet for a drink that night. His old friend's voice reminds him of the time a Cagney movie inspired Sachs to say that, if ever captured by enemy agents, he would break his pinkie finger to signal to Cuddy that his death was not an accident. Sachs never shows for the drink, and the next morning he is found naked in a park, his body mangled and his pinkie broken.

To avenge his friend, Cuddy confronts a dark military cover-up, and travels back to the war zone he thought he left behind years ago.

So Like Sleep

William Daniels nearly didn't make it to college. A black student raised in one of Boston's roughest suburbs, he once barely skirted time in juvenile hall for gang activities. Pressure from his mother convinced William to straighten out, and he went on to study at a prestigious university. Years after his first brush with the law, William is in trouble again, and it will take more than a mother's love to keep him free.

While hypnotized by his psychiatrist, William admits to shooting his girlfriend, producing the murder weapon and telling the doctor where to find the body. When he comes out of his state, William is in handcuffs and thinks he killed the girl. But private eye John Francis Cuddy doesn't trust the psychiatrist, and risks everything to save this bright young man whose mind has been turned against him.

Swan Dive

Divorce will not be easy for Hanna Marsh. Her drug-dealing husband, Roy, is a cruel man, whose greed makes him unwilling to part with anything he owns—including his money, wife, and daughter. Hanna's lawyer is terrified of Roy, but has the sense to hire John Francis Cuddy, private detective, to protect Hanna during the negotiations. Cuddy doesn't wait to get mean with Roy, and the result of his tough talk is clear as soon as they return to Hanna's temporary residence: her daughter's kitten slaughtered on the floor.

Cuddy makes Roy pay for his vile behavior, humiliating the drug pusher in an attempt to set his wife free. But when Roy takes a headfirst dive out a hotel window, leaving behind a murdered prostitute and a missing shipment of cocaine, suspicion falls on Cuddy. To save his client's life, Cuddy must put his own on the line.

Yesterday's News

According to its daily paper, Nasharbor is an idyllic seaside hamlet. But reporter Jane Rust knows better. Investigating a raid on a child pornography ring, she uncovers a web of police corruption built to protect the sickos behind the camera. She writes a story that should blow the lid off the Nasharbor police, but her editors scrub it clean of any reference to corruption, calling her accusations unfounded. Soon after, the cop who tipped her off to the story is dead.

Rust hires Boston PI John Francis Cuddy to look into the murder and the cover-up. But prodding small-town cops is like kicking a hornet's nest. By the end of his investigation, more good people will die, and Cuddy will wish he had never heard of sunny, tranquil Nasharbor.

Right to Die

To impress his girlfriend and remind himself of his long-neglected athleticism, John Francis Cuddy is training to run the Boston marathon. But the private detective's fitness regimen goes on the back burner when an old friend approaches him with a dangerous assignment. Euthanasia advocate Maisy Andrus has been receiving death threats, and the police are helpless to protect her. As he tries to keep the crusading lawyer alive, Cuddy realizes that the question isn't who wants Andrus dead, but who doesn't.

Protecting the right-to-die advocate dredges up painful memories of Cuddy's wife, who died a slow death from brain cancer. The closer he gets to unmasking the would-be assassin, the more his old wounds open. When the killer starts taking potshots at him, as well as his client, Cuddy's marathon training will come in handy.

Shallow Graves

She was born Tina Danucci, but modeled as Mau Tim Dani., Her friends find the slender beauty strangled to death in her apartment, a priceless necklace of hers nowhere in sight. The police dismiss the murder as an impossible-to-solve botched robbery, so the insurance company hires John Francis Cuddy to do what the homicide detectives can't. But there's something the cops know that Cuddy doesn't: Tina's murder isn't just hard to solve, it could be deadly.

Tina was the granddaughter of Tommy "the Temper" Danucci, the invisible face of the Boston mafia. She turned her back on him to become a model, but hers is the kind of family that never forgets a child. Once Danucci learns that the police have lost interest in the case, he puts the screws to Cuddy. This is one murder Cuddy has no choice but to crack.

Foursome

Steve always forgets to buy groceries on the way to the lake house. Every time he and his wife make a pilgrimage to Maine, his first task is to drive into town and pick up essentials. Today he leaves his wife at home with their two friends and returns from the store to find a crossbow on the lawn and arrows embedded in the chests of the three people he loves most. During a twenty-minute shopping trip, he has become the chief suspect in a triple murder.

The case against him is airtight—fingerprints on the weapon, blood on his shoes—so Steve's lawyer hires Boston PI John Francis Cuddy to crack it. Steve's lakeside neighbors had no love for his yuppie pals, but did they hate the city slickers enough to frame him for murder? Cuddy learns quickly that in Maine, even the killers are awfully polite.

Act of God

John Francis Cuddy almost never gets walk-in clients, but today he has two. Although William Proft and Pearl Rivkind enter his office together, they could not have less in common. Proft is a pharmacist with greedy eyes, who relates too calmly the facts of his sister's disappearance. Mrs. Rivkind is a recent widow whose husband was killed during an attempted robbery. Her fear that her husband may have been cheating endears her to Cuddy. The odd couple think there may be a connection between the missing sister and late husband, and ask Cuddy to find it. Cuddy does not like joint cases, but the hard sorrow in Mrs. Rivkind's eyes makes him say yes.

He quickly finds that, although Mrs. Rivkind's grief for her husband was genuine, Proft has no interest in seeing his sister return. As Cuddy searches for answers to these strange intertwined cases, he can only pray that no more corpses appear before he finds the truth.