Games of Mystery: Mr. Biscuits, The Case of the Ocean Pearl, New at PlayFirst Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, and mystery getaway vacations, is pleased to announce a special price for a mystery game available from PlayFirst Games. You can find out more about these games from our Mystery Games: PlayFirst Download Games page or by clicking on the links provided below.

Come on board the cruise liner the Ocean Pearl as you work to unravel its latest mystery in Mr. Biscuits, Private Investigator: The Case of the Ocean Pearl. Something has happened to Mrs. Cambridge, and it is up to you and her lovable pug, Mr. Biscuits, to figure it out! Travel throughout the ship as you search for evidence and collect clues to solve your case. But be careful as the suspects involved will work to distract you and remove evidence from the scene. Who did it? Why did they do it? How does a dog know so much? Answer these questions and many more in this pooch-smart hidden object game.

Mr. Biscuits, Private Investigator: The Case of the Ocean Pearl is available to purchase for $9.95 with the PlayPass program. A trial version is available to download for a 60 minutes of play (Windows PC, 43.7 MB).

Other popular games on our download PlayFirst Mystery Games page include both Mystery PI games, Mystery P.I.: The Vegas Heist and Mystery P.I.: The Lottery Ticket, James Patterson's Women's Murder Club: Death in Scarlet, and Private Eye.

And don't forget to visit Games of Mystery for all kinds of mysterious fun!

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MediaBlvd Magazine Interviews Mystery Author Jason Pinter

MediaBlvd Magazine published an interview with thriller writer Jason Pinter today. Pinter is the author of the Henry Parker mysteries, two of the most recent of which we've had the pleasure of reviewing for Mysterious Reviews, The Guilty and The Stolen.

Henry Parker is a young investigative journalist in New York City. In the interview, Pinter reveals a little about the next in the series. "The Fury is the most personal story Henry has had to face yet. Through the first three books, we’ve learned a little bit about his life before he came to New York, but in this book he finds out that there’s one massive skeleton in his family’s closet that is now coming back to haunt him. But, what he finds out is just the tip of the iceberg, and the start of a big storyline that will continue into the next Henry Parker novel, The Darkness, which will be out in November 2009, just a month after The Fury hits shelves."

And his sage advice to aspiring writers? "The most important thing is to write what you love and write the kind of book that you would want to read."

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The Strand Magazine Honors John Mortimer with a Lifetime Achievement Award

In a press release, The Strand Magazine announced that the 2009 Strand Critics Lifetime Achievement Award goes to John Mortimer. Mortimer is probably best known for his Rumpole of the Bailey mysteries (some of which have also been adapted as made-for-television movies.)

"I think that John Mortimer has made an excellent contribution to crime writing," said Andrew Gulli, managing editor of The Strand. "When you think about larger-than-life mystery characters, you think of iconic characters like of Holmes, Poirot, Marlowe and Rumpole."

"I feel honoured to be chosen to receive this Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Horace Rumpole," said Mortimer, 85, in a statement Wednesday. "He is, of course, a truly British character and I am delighted that he has come to be appreciated so much by his American cousins."

The award is sponsored by The Strand Magazine and judged by several critics from top daily papers in the US. The award will be presented at an invitation-only cocktail party hosted by The Strand in July, in New York City.

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New Episode of Bones on Fox Postponed to Next Week

If you were looking forward to the return of Bones on Fox this evening, reset your DVRs for next week. The new year's first episode, Double Trouble, will now air together with a second new episode next Thursday, January 22nd, at 8 PM (ET).

Bones is based on characters created by forensic anthropologist and mystery author Kathy Reichs and stars Emily Deschanel as Dr. Temperance Brennan who has an uncanny ability to read clues left behind in a victim's bones. The series also stars David Boreanaz as FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth. The 11th book in the mystery series, Devil Bones, was published last August and is also available as a Kindle download.

The first three seasons of Bones are available on DVD from Mysteries on TV: Bones.

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Mystery Savings: Take an Additional 20% Off Plus Get $1 Shipping at A&E

Mystery Savings periodically provides our readers with current promotions that offer discounts or other incentives for purchasing mystery-themed products and services products through our partner websites. Below is a special offer recently received by us that we're pleased to pass on at this time.

It just doesn't get any simpler than this. From now through January 20, 2009, take an additional 20% off all orders of $50 or more, plus get $1 shipping at A&E! Just use code Pres20 at checkout. A&E has DVD sets of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Poirot (the definitive collection now 30% off!), Cold Case Files, CSI Miami, The Avengers, and more.. Click on the banner link below to start shopping and remember to use code Pres20 at checkout to save an additional 20% and pay just $1 for shipping.

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Mystery Book Review: Caravaggio's Angel by Ruth Brandon

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Caravaggio's Angel by Ruth Brandon. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Caravaggio's Angel by Ruth Brandon
A Reggie Lee Mystery

Soho Constable (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-56947-519-9 (1569475199)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-519-5 (9781569475195)
Publication Date: October 2008
List Price: $25.00

Review: Ruth Brandon introduces art curator and historian Dr. Reggie Lee in Caravaggio's Angel, a tale of mystery and intrigue set in the world of international art.

Reggie is a relatively new member of the staff of the National Gallery in London. She is given the assignment to set up a small exhibition enveloping three paintings by the 1600's Italian master Caravaggio collectively titled “St. Cecelia and the Angel.” It would really be a feather in her cap if she were able to pull it off. One of the paintings is on display the Getty Museum in California. Another is in the Louvre in Paris. The third is in the possession of a private party, an elderly lady in France, Mme. Juliette Rigaut. Reggie goes to visit Mme. Rigaut’s son, Jean-Jacques, an Interior Minister but having grand aspirations of becoming President of France one day, initially agrees but abruptly changes his mind saying he is part owner of the painting and refusing to allow it to be loaned. Not only that, he forces the Louvre to reverse its decision to agree to loan their Caravaggio. But now the situation is even more complicated: her quest to bring together the three paintings reveals a fourth "Angel". Could this truly be the find of a lifetime or more likely a forgery? Or is it genuine and one of the existing three paintings is in reality a fake? Soon people involved with her assignment begin to die, accidents possibly, murder almost certainly. Will she be able to determine the truth before she becomes a casualty?

Caravaggio's Angel is a wonderful introduction for this amateur sleuth. The story draws the reader into the complex, secretive world of art treasures and Reggie is quite endearing. The plot is sufficiently intricate to capture the imagination without being overly convoluted. A minor annoyance, typical of many international mysteries, is the inclusion of words or phrases in the local language. Here, for example, whole sentences are in French and it is difficult, if not impossible, from the context to determine what exactly is being said. There are far better, and more effective, ways of introducing an international flavor to a book. It's pretentious, it unnecessarily interrupts the flow of the narrative, leaves the reader ignorant of something potentially important, and makes the book slightly less enjoyable than it otherwise might have been.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Caravaggio's Angel and to Soho Press for providing a copy of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

If you are interested in purchasing Caravaggio's Angel from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Dr. Reggie Lee, a new arrival at the National Gallery, is organizing a small exhibition around three Caravaggio paintings depicting "St. Cecilia and the Angel". One is at the Getty, one at the Louvre, and she assumes it won't be too hard to track down the third. But inexplicable obstacles keep getting in her way -- and then, unexpectedly, a fourth Caravaggio turns up. One of them must be a fake. But which?

When people start to die, it's horribly clear that someone doesn't want Reggie's show to go ahead. Why, she can't imagine. But her career is at stake, and she's damned if she'll let herself be intimidated by these unseen forces. So Reggie sets out to discover the truth, on a trail that leads her from Surrealist suicides to Italian art dealers, from 17th-century painting techniques to modern French politics. By the end it seems as though nobody in the world of international art can truly be deemed incorruptible -- perhaps not even Reggie herself.

For more mystery book reviews visit Mysterious Reviews, a partner with the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books which is committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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A New A&E Series, The Beast, Premieres Tomorrow

The Beast starring Patrick Swayze premieres tomorrow, Thursday January 15th, on A&E (10 PM ET). According to the promotional material provided by the network, the series centers an unorthodox but effective FBI veteran, Charles Barker (Swayze), who takes on a rookie partner, Ellis Dove (played by Travis Fimmel). Barker trains Dove in a hard-edged, psychologically driven approach towards undercover work, where a moment's hesitation can lead to death.

In the premiere episode of The Beast, the mischievous Barker hazes Dove as they go undercover on their first case to infiltrate a weapons smuggling ring. Barker brilliantly manipulates situations, constantly tests his new partner's abilities and pushes him to delve deeper into the roles of the undercover characters he creates. Although Dove takes a liking to Barker, the new job takes its toll on him. The stress and danger of being an agent quickly makes him realize that he can no longer maintain normal relationships outside of work. Yet that's not the worst of it. The rookie is confronted with a larger challenge: An FBI Internal Affairs team feels Barker may have gone rogue and they try to enlist Dove as a double-agent in the bureau's investigation of his mentor.

The first 10 minutes of the episode is available online at the A&E.com website. And while you're on the site, enter The Beast sweepstakes for a chance to win instant cash prizes and be entered for a grand prize trip for two to the set of the series and a chance for a walk-on role in an upcoming episode.

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CBS Series Harper's Island to Extend the Mystery Online

Several sites are reporting that the upcoming CBS mystery television series Harper's Island will have a significant online presence. Broadcasting & Cable and The Hollywood Reporter, among others, are providing some of the details. (MBN note: We first reported on the new series last month when CBS announced their mid-season replacements.)

The website HarpersGlobe.com will continue the series' story through separate video content and other interactive tools. Though the on air series debuts April 9th, the online activities start March 18th. (The website indicates there will be 17 episodes online in contrast to the 13 episodes on air.)

EQAL will produce the collaborative show which will have overlapping characters and plots that will evolve online and on mobile devices throughout the season.

This is one Agatha Christie-style series we're definitely looking forward to!

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Games of Mystery: Valentines Day Mystery Party Ideas

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed games, parties, and vacations, has some suggestions for your next holiday party. With Valentines Day just one month away, it's not too early to plan a special mystery event to celebrate with your loved ones. We have three suggestions here, but visit our site for many more.

It’s everybody’s worst nightmare: somebody has spiked the party punch with a potent love potion.

Thankfully, the victims of the potion are not declaring undying love for anybody at the party. Instead, they are emphatically revealing the thing they would most love to do -- their secret passion.

Soon these comical admissions become dangerous as the affected guests stop at nothing to act on their obsession. The guests must discover who spiked the punch, concoct and administer the antidote before somebody bruises something worse than an ego!

Love Potion Number Five is a party perfect for any combination of girls and boys, 12 and older, and up to 16 guests can play a character (see list of recommended characters). The party is rated E.

For adults there is A St. Valentine's Day Murder Mystery.

The year is 1929 and Prohibition is at its height. Until last week Chicago was run by four big players. Tommy Gunn who runs booze and girls, Al Kohol who runs booze and protection rackets, Spits Feathers who runs booze and gambling dens through his bakery business cover and, until his murder last week, Buck Fifty who ran booze and slot machines. As the rival gangs move in on Buck's empire, Tommy Gunn has called a party to celebrate his 40th birthday, but does he have other sinister plans?

A St. Valentine's Day Murder Mystery is for between 6 and 10 players (see list of recommended characters) and has a Roaring 20s party theme. Dress appropriately! It is rated M.

Finally, and you knew it was coming, there's Death by Chocolate.

A joint party is being held at Thornbury's Chocolates to launch the new range of Symphony Chocolates and also to celebrate the 40th birthday party of Shopin (that's pronounced Show-pan) Channill who is the daughter of Thornbury's owner Cocoa Channill. What could possibly go wrong on such a happy night?

This chocolate-lovers murder mystery party is just perfect for Valentine's Day. For 8 to 12 players aged 18 and older (see list of recommended characters), this party is rated M.

For more ideas on mystery parties for kids, teens, and adults, visit Games of Mystery where you'll also find all types of mysterious fun!

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Andrew Taylor Wins CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger Award

The Crime Writers' Association announced on Monday that Andrew Taylor has been awarded the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger. The award is given to those authors who have sustained excellence in crime writing.

“I am hugely honored to receive this award," Taylor said. "It's the sort of award that validates an entire career. What makes it particularly special is that I have been chosen by my fellow crime writers.”

Andrew Taylor is the best-selling author of the Richard-and-Judy choice The American Boy and the highly-acclaimed Bleeding Heart Square (available in the US on March 3rd).

For more information on awards given for the very best in crime fiction, visit our aptly titled website Mystery Book Awards.

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Games of Mystery: Syberia II, New at Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, and mystery getaway vacations, is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery game from Big Fish Games released today. 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.

Last week we announced the availability of the intriguing adventure game Syberia. Today, Big Fish Games is releasing its sequel, Syberia II. Kate Walker has left behind her life as a high-stakes lawyer in New York City. She travels now across Europe on a train built by Hans Voralberg, the brilliant and aging genius responsible for the automatons. Hans is obsessed with finding a mysterious island known as Syberia, where he claims the last mammoths still roam. But the journey is once again fraught with hidden perils and wondrous mechanical puzzles that tantalize the imagination. Complete the adventure into the mythical land of Syberia.

Syberia II may be downloaded and purchased for as little as $6.99 with the Big Fish Game Club Jumbo Pack. Due to the large size of the program, a demonstration version is not available.

View the trailer for Syberia II below:

Other popular games on our download Big Fish Mystery Games page include several Agatha Christie and Nancy Drew games, games in the Mystery Case Files series and in particular the latest, Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, Adventure Chronicles: The Search for Lost Treasure, the Carol Reed mystery Remedy, Mystery Legends: Sleepy Hollow, Mystery Chronicles: Murder Among Friends, and Lost Realms: Legacy of the Sun Princess.

Big Fish Games: Bestsellers

Big Fish Games: New releases

And don't forget to visit Games of Mystery for all kinds of mysterious fun!

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Mystery Book Review: The Darker Side by Cody McFadyen

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of The Darker Side by Cody McFadyen. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

The Darker Side by Cody McFadyen
A Smoky Barrett Mystery

Bantam (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-553-80694-7 (0553806947)
ISBN-13: 978-0-553-80694-6 (9780553806946)
Publication Date: September 2008
List Price: $24.00

Review: FBI special agent Smoky Barrett and her team are on the trail of a ruthless serial killer dubbed the Preacher in The Darker Side, the third thriller in this series by Cody McFadyen.

Smoky is brought in when one of the victims is the estranged daughter of a potential Presidential candidate. She had been killed while on board a jet in mid-air with a sharp object thrust precisely into her heart. The killer's calling card was a silver cross placed in the wound, etched with a symbol and a number -- 143. As Smoky points out, there is only one thing a killer counts. She's soon proved right; another victim is found just days later with a similar cross and the number 142 etched on it. But in an unusual twist, the killer starts posting information about his crimes on the internet, outline their sins. The Preacher, as Smoky comes to identify him, announces he's not through and the next victim will be a child. Smoky and her team are in a race against time to find the Preacher before he kills again.

The Darker Side is in many ways a riveting thriller. The writing is crisp, the characters clearly delineated, and plot well paced. What it lacks, somewhat ironically, is suspense. Smoky and her team don't lead so much as follow. The Preacher wants to be caught and leaves all sorts of clues as to where he is and how to find him. At one point he says as much. So while the book is definitely a page-turner (as it were), the direction it takes is not unexpected. In the end it's ever so slightly disappointing, that there wasn't a plot twist that might surprise the reader, and place it among the best in class.

The narrative might have been more tightly wound had there not been so many backstories. Some are clearly necessary; many are not. And the sin and redemption aspect is somewhat overwrought, especially towards the end among Smoky and her team. True, everyone has a deep seated secret, but it's simply too much to have so many of the recurring characters confess to theirs in one setting.

Still and all, The Darker Side is provocative, intense, and eminently enjoyable as a thriller.

Special thanks to Joan Schulhafer Publishing & Media Consulting for providing a copy of The Darker Side for this review.

Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

If you are interested in purchasing The Darker Side from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): A lie, a long-ago affair, a dark desire -- everyone has secrets they take to the grave. No one knew that better than FBI special agent Smoky Barrett. But what secret was a very private young woman keeping that led to her very public murder? And what kind of killer was so driven and so brazenly daring that he'd take her life on a commercial airliner thirty thousand feet in midair, a killer so accomplished that he'd leave only a small souvenir behind?

These are the questions that bring Smoky and her handpicked team of experienced manhunters from L.A. to the autumn chill of Washington, D.C., by order of the FBI director himself -- and at the special request of a high-powered grieving D.C. mother.

As a mother, Smoky knows the pain of losing a child -- it nearly killed her once before. As a cop with her own twisted past, she takes every murder personally, which is both her greatest strength and her only weakness. Brilliant, merciless, righteous, the killer Smoky is hunting this time is on his own personal mission, whose cost in innocent human lives he's only begun to collect. For in his eyes no one is innocent; everyone harbors a secret sin, including Smoky Barrett. Soon Smoky will have to confront a flawless killer who knows her flaws with murderous intimacy.

For more mystery book reviews visit Mysterious Reviews, a partner with the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books which is committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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In the Electric Mist, based on the James Lee Burke mystery, Direct to DVD

We're not sure when it was first announced that In the Electric Mist, the movie adaptation of the James Lee Burke mystery In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead, was going straight to DVD, but we missed it. We stumbled upon an article in The Daily Iberian from January 9th reporting that the movie, which was filmed in and around New Iberia, Louisiana last year, is scheduled to be released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 3rd with a limited release in local theaters sometime thereafter.

It's usually never a good sign when the studio elects to skip a national theatrical release, opting instead for direct to DVD. Even more so when the caliber of the stars is so high. Tommy Lee Jones plays Cajun detective Dave Robicheaux in what we think is a stroke of casting genius. The movie also stars John Goodman, Kelly Macdonald, Mary Steenburgen, and Ned Beatty.

Still, we're excited. Tommy Lee Jones is one of our favorite actors (though he tested us in No Country for Old Men, a movie we really didn't like, his character being the only redeeming feature) and James Lee Burke is about the best writer of atmospheric crime fiction. So rather than seeing it on the big screen, we'll settle for the DVD in the comfort of our own home.

Look for In the Electric Mist on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in early March.

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The Great Poe Debate, Tonight in Philadelphia

Three cities who claim the writer Edgar Allan Poe will debate tonight at the Free Library in Philadelphia, writes the Philadelphia Inquirer. After more than two years of sniping, Poe experts from Boston (the city of his birth 200 years ago next Monday), Baltimore (the city of his death), and Philadelphia (the city where, writer and Poe enthusiast Edward Pettitt says Poe "invented the mystery/detective story") will face off. Three other Poe scholars, one from each city, will moderate the debate.

We'll be looking forward to the post-debate analysis and report back here!

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Games of Mystery: Art Detective, New at Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, and mystery getaway vacations, is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery game from Big Fish Games released today. 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.

John Cromwell investigates high-profile theft for the FBI. He's on the trail of a shadowy figure known as The Ghost, an expert thief who steals fine paintings and replaces them with replicas so convincing that most people don't realize the originals have been burgled. But John Cromwell isn't most people; he's the Art Detective. Through his eyes you will investigate the crime scenes, separate the real from the counterfeits, and piece together the puzzle to unmask The Ghost. 

Art Detective, a Big Fish Games exclusive, may be downloaded and purchased for as little as $6.99 with the Big Fish Game Club Jumbo Pack. A demonstration version is available to download (35.42 MB) and play for one hour for free.

Other popular games on our download Big Fish Mystery Games page include several Agatha Christie and Nancy Drew games, games in the Mystery Case Files series and in particular the latest, Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, Adventure Chronicles: The Search for Lost Treasure, the Carol Reed mystery Remedy, Mystery Legends: Sleepy Hollow, Mystery Chronicles: Murder Among Friends, and Lost Realms: Legacy of the Sun Princess.

Big Fish Games: Bestsellers

Big Fish Games: New releases

And don't forget to visit Games of Mystery for all kinds of mysterious fun!

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