Harlequin Worldwide Mystery Titles for July 2009

eHarlequin.com has announced the July 2009 titles for their Worldwide imprint, your partner in crime. Amateur sleuths, traditional cozies, police procedurals and private-eye fiction, written by award-winning authors. To purchase any of the books below, click on the book title or the book cover. (Previous months titles can be found on the backlist page. Note: The book cover images were not available on the eHarlequin.com site as of the date of this post; the hardcover/trade paperback covers are shown instead.)

Orange as Marmalade by Fran Stewart
A Biscuit McKee Mystery (1st in series)

There aren't many secrets between folks in small old Southern towns like Martinsville, Georgia. But when someone is found murdered in the local library, even the biggest gossips are speechless. First on the scene in the wee hours is a curious cat named Marmalade, followed later by the new librarian, Biscuit McKee. She finds the victim—Harlan Schneider, a young, good-looking nature photographer—stabbed through the heart.

Everyone seems genuinely puzzled as to why the man was in the library, and how he came to draw his last breath on the second-floor landing. Between getting ready for her upcoming wedding to the town's only police officer and poking her nose into Martinsville's colorful history, Biscuit—with help from her tenacious feline companion—manages to identify the surprising motive, means … and murderer.

— ◊ —

Paint the Town Dead by Nancy Bell
A Jackson Crain Mystery (3rd in series)

When the lifeless body of local real estate king Tom Delgado is found, the discovery stirs up all kinds of gossip in Post Oak, Texas. Suspicion falls on his widow, Dovie, who discovered that funds from her husband's sizable bank account—as well as his affections—had been going to flashy Dallas television evangelist Mary Dobbs McDermott.

Luckily, nothing happens down home in the small East Texas town without the knowledge of mild-mannered, quick-witted judge Jackson Crain. And he's the first to figure out that the mesmerizing preacher woman has a sinfully sordid past. One that includes seducing a rich married man and sending his wife off the deep end? Maybe. But as the evidence piles up against Dovie Delgado, the judge brings his own brand of Southern barbecue to smoke out the true killer before an innocent woman gets cooked.

— ◊ —

Murder on the ICW by Ellen Elizabeth Hunter
A Wilmington NC Mystery (5th in series)

The mix of old and new continues to intrigue Wilmington, North Carolina, historic preservationist Ashley Wilkes, especially with the discovery of a decades-old murder. The skeletal remains of a Prohibition-era federal agent are found buried beneath the rubble of an old moonshine operation in a hunting lodge Ashley plans to renovate. But this mysterious bit of history mirrors something infinitely more dramatic and dangerous in Ashley's personal life: the bodies of young, healthy men who all have one thing in common …

Ashley's gorgeous sister, Melanie.

Police suspect her man-magnet sister is a killer, but Ashley's innate ability to reconstruct the past tells of a motive that runs much deeper. As she pushes to find out who is killing the swinging bachelors of Wilmington, she tangles with a killer with enough dark history and blood on his hands to paint the town—and Ashley's short-lived future—red.

— ◊ —

If you enjoy the books in this series, you can join Worldwide Mystery and get 2 free books plus 2 free gifts just for giving the automatic program a try. Accepting your two free Worldwide Mystery books and mystery gifts places you under no obligation to buy anything. You may keep the books and gifts and return the shipping statement marked cancel. If you do not cancel, about two months later, and then every other month, eHarlequin will send you three additional Worldwide Mystery books.

Keep up to date by subscribing to eHarlequin.com's free newsletter that contains the latest information about their series of books as well as informing you about subscriber-only special offers and new products. Click on the banner below to subscribe for free:

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Harlequin Mira Mystery and Suspense Titles for July 2009

eHarlequin.com has announced the July 2009 titles for their Mira imprint, the brightest stars in women's fiction. From all titles available, we've only listed those that are mystery, thriller, or suspense on this page. To purchase any of the books below, click on the book title or the book cover. (Previous months titles can be found on the backlist page.)

Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan
A Charlotte "Charlie" McNally Mystery (1st in series)

In the cutthroat world of television journalism, seasoned reporter Charlotte McNally knows that she'd better pull out all the stops or kiss her job goodbye. But it's her life that might be on the line when she learns that an innocent-looking e-mail offer resulted in murder, mayhem and a multimillion-dollar fraud ring.

All too soon her investigation leads her straight to Josh Gelston, who is a little too helpful and a lot too handsome. Charlie might have a nose for news, but men are a whole other matter. Now she has to decide whether she can trust Josh…before she ends up as the next lead story.

Read our Review of Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan.

— ◊ —

The Mist by Carla Neggers
Non-series

When Lizzie Rush uncovers evidence that thrill-seeking billionaire Norman Estabrook may be at the center of an international criminal network, she finds herself playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Raised in the elite world of her hotelier family, educated in reality by her spy father, Lizzie is the perfect choice to slowly amass information that will take down Estabrook. But no good deed goes unpunished.

Despite Norman's arrest, Lizzie knows she's not safe. Estabrook will stop at nothing to exact revenge against the people who took him down—unless she stops him first. When she learns of a bomb that's about to go off in Boston, her instincts are proven right. But her warning doesn't come quickly enough. One detective is seriously injured in the blast and another, the FBI director's daughter, disappears. Then intelligence officer Will Davenport arrives with a single, simple message: Norman Estabrook is gone.

Lizzie doesn't know how Will found her or whose side he's on, but she does know he can help her prevent the killers from striking again. Now Lizzie—a woman who's spent the past year shrouded in a fog of deception—has no choice but to trust Will, a man who lives by a code of personal honor and answers to no one. At least until the mist clears and the frightening truth is revealed.

— ◊ —

Red Blooded Murder by Laura Caldwell
An Izzy McNeil Mystery (2nd in series)

Chicago is the Windy City, and these days the winds of change are whipping Izzy McNeil's life all over the map. A high-profile job on Trial TV lands her in the hot seat. After a shocking end to her engagement, she finds herself juggling not only her ex-fiancé, but a guy she never expected. And a moonlighting undercover gig has her digging deep into worlds she barely knew existed.

But all of this takes a backseat when Izzy's friend winds up brutally murdered. Suddenly, Izzy must balance the demands of a voracious media and the knowledge that she didn't know her friend as well as she thought.

— ◊ —

Fan Mail by P. D. Martin
A Sophie Anderson Mystery (3rd in series)

Getting into a killer's mind is both a blessing and a curse for FBI profiler Sophie Anderson. The agent suffers through brutal premonitions in order to save lives. Now a resident of Los Angeles, Sophie is working on a case where fiction has become fatal. A popular crime writer is sexually mutilated, strangled and marked with an eerie lipstick kiss…just like the crime scene in the dead author's last book.

As more writers are punished for their dark imaginations, there is a recurring theme—a chilling fan letter that arrives before each murder. In order to stop the slaughter, Sophie must delve into the writings of the dead authors. But the sinister mind behind the crimes is linked to an unsolved case from Sophie's past. And that person is determined to create a killer ending.

— ◊ —

Outcast by Joan Johnston
Non-series

Society bachelor and former army sniper Ben Benedict moves between two worlds—from high-society Washington to the mean city streets, from tuxedos to Glocks. His powerful Virginia family wants him out of harm's way, but Ben stays on the job, determined to make amends for a past that haunts him.

Dr. Anna Schuster is fighting demons of her own when she crosses paths with Agent Benedict. The two become adversaries—and lovers—as they search for an Al Qaeda operative bent on revenge.

Ben must fight against time—and his own darkness—to rescue millions of innocents and the woman he loves from a virulent bioweapon in the hands of a dangerous enemy.

— ◊ —

Keep up to date by subscribing to eHarlequin.com's free newsletter that contains the latest information about their series of books as well as informing you about subscriber-only special offers and new products. Click on the banner below to subscribe for free:

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Book Review: And Then Everything Unraveled by Jennifer Sturman

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of And Then Everything Unraveled by Jennifer Sturman. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

And Then Everything Unraveled by Jennifer Sturman
A Delia Truesdale Mystery

Point (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-545-08722-8 (0545087228)
ISBN-13: 978-0-545-08722-3 (9780545087223)
Publication Date: July 2009
List Price: $16.99

Review: Jennifer Sturman’s 5th novel, but her first for young adults, And Then Everything Unraveled, introduces Delia Truesdale, a surfing loving California Girl enjoying the summer. That is, as the title says, until everything unravels. Delia's mother is dead, or so the public thinks.

Delia, on the other hand, knows that her mother is too organized to disappear for no apparent reason. Delia fights everyone she knows, arguing that her mother is still alive and in danger and that they must find her. Nobody listens. Instead of helping her, they send her away to live with her two aunts, one a posh snob the other a "downtown bohemian", who bicker with each other on the future for the child. When sent to a rich school, Delia can't figure out how she’s going to find her mother when a guy enters the picture. Now her life gets even crazier as she can't figure out whether or not to focus on the guy or finding her mom. Nobody is what they seem … and then everything unravels.

This book was very interesting. I felt the mystery solving part of it was way too underground. Most of the book was about how wacky Delia’s social life is and about this guy at school. Some readers, boys my age, couldn’t care less about how cute the guy was. I wanted to know whether or not she was making any progress finding her mother in this mystery. I wanted to know where her mom was, whether she was in Argentina or Antarctica. Sure, the rest of it, such as the imagery and the creativity, was excellent but the content of the mystery was minimal. Also it seems that the author is going to have a second book in the series, or maybe a sequel, because it ends in a very abrupt manner.

And Then Everything Unraveled is an average book. As a mystery, it wasn’t much of one. The other aspects of the book, however, were right on. The group that would enjoy this book would be late middle school to early high school girls. Boys would find the boyfriend-girlfriend relationship stuff boring and uneventful.

Special thanks to Alex Nauert for contributing his review of And Then Everything Unraveled and to Point for providing a copy of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2009 — Alex Nauert — All Rights Reserved — Reprinted with Permission

If you are interested in purchasing And Then Everything Unraveled from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Delia Truesdale has no idea her life's about to change forever. She's too busy enjoying the California summer. Her internet tycoon mother, T.K. Truesdale, is out of town, and that means Delia can spend all her time at the beach, surfing. That is, until everything unravels.

Her mother suddenly goes missing, and everyone thinks she's dead - excpet Delia, who knows T.K.'s way too organized to simply disappear. But Delia's still sent to New York to live with her two aunts -- a downtown bohemian and an uptown ice queen.

And in case that's not bad enough, she also has to deal with a snooty new school and trying not to fall for the wrong guy. Oh, and finding her mother.

As she delves deeper into the tangle of conspiracies and lies surrounding T.K.'s disappearance, Delia begins to suspect that the wrong guy may be the right guy ... and that some secrets -- especially the dangerous ones - were never meant to be unraveled.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Book Review: Death Wore White by Jim Kelly

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Death Wore White by Jim Kelly. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Death Wore White by Jim Kelly
Non-series

St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-57081-3 (0312570813)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-57081-1 (9780312570811)
Publication Date: June 2009
List Price: $24.95

Review: Jim Kelly's first rate mystery, Death Wore White, introduces Detective Inspector Peter Shaw investigating a most perplexing, and seeingly impossible crime.

Shaw is the youngest DI on the police force. His partner is also his deceased father's ex-partner, Detective Sergeant George Valentine, who had been demoted years earlier for misconduct. It is unclear to this day whether Shaw's father was involved. During a blizzard, Shaw and Valentine are sent to investigate a dead body found drifting on a rubber raft. A half-mile away, six cars are stranded on a narrow road, help up by a fallen tree. A man in the first vehicle, a truck, is also dead, apparently murdered. But there are no footprints leading to or from the truck. And witnesses in the other vehicles claim he was alive earlier. Is it possible the two deaths are connected? Soon after Shaw and Valentine start asking questions, more potential witnesses (or are they suspects) begin to die.

If the impossible crime investigation of Death Wore White wasn't sufficient to capture the reader's imagination, the narrative shifts gears when Shaw quizzes Valentine about the case 12 years earlier that caused so much trouble for the Detective Sergeant and Shaw's father. A young boy had been killed. Proof was found to indict the killer but somehow it appeared as if Valentine, or Shaw's father, had planted the evidence though everyone involved at the time denied it. Shaw wants to know the truth. He convinces his superiors to reopen the case. But somehow, some way, this cold case is related to their current murder investigation. The question is, how?

Death Wore White is a brilliantly constructed mystery, decidedly atmospheric with a setting of icy waters, snow-covered roads, dilapidated waterfront buildings, and an approaching blizzard. The novel is a series of cliffhangers, but of the sort that intensifies the reader's emotions, not frustrates it. This is a suspenseful thriller at its best, one not to be missed.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Death Wore White and to St. Martin's Minotaur 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 Death Wore White from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): At 5.15 p.m. Harvey Ellis was trapped – stranded in a line of eight cars by a blizzard on a Norfolk coast road. At 8.15 p.m. Harvey Ellis was dead – viciously stabbed at the wheel of his truck. And his killer has achieved the impossible: striking without being seen, and without leaving a single footprint in the snow ...

For DI Peter Shaw and DS George Valentine it’s only the start of an infuriating investigation. The crime scene is melting, the murderer has vanished, the witnesses are dropping like flies. And the body count is on the rise ...

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Book Review: Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson
The 39 Clues

Scholastic (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-545-06044-3 (0545060443)
ISBN-13: 978-0-545-06044-8 (9780545060448)
Publication Date: June 2009
List Price: $12.99

Review: Witty, suspenseful, perilous—three words that merely begin to describe the newest book in The 39 Clues series. Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson is the 4th installment in The 39 Clues series. Each of these books is written by a different author, and each has succeeded in drawing in its readers. But Beyond the Grave is the best one yet. Series characters Amy and Dan have returned for a trip to Egypt.

After narrowly escaping Hideyoshi's hiding place back in Korea in The Sword Thief, the Cahill kids, Amy and Dan, and their au pair Nellie, travel to Egypt in Beyond the Grave in search for their next clue to uncovering the secret to the Cahill family. Although the heat becomes unbearable, and the hustle and bustle of Cairo is very nerve-wracking for the kids, the natural kindness of the Egyptian people soon calm their nerves—but only for the time being. Nothing could prepare them for the hardships that would occur during their trip. Amy and Dan must face broken hearts, clues from the past, and remnants of Grace Cahill, their deceased grandmother. Engrossed in one of the most fascinating civilizations of ancient time, Amy and Dan struggle physically, mentally, and emotionally in their quest.

The title for this book is very appropriate due to the great Egyptian belief of life "beyond the grave". Also the most crucial help that they receive comes from beyond the grave. This book is extraordinary for anyone in late elementary and middle school. Nellie's crazy antics will bring comedy such that reading it without laughing or smiling will be impossible. The book is also loaded with non-stop action and adventure to keep readers on the edge of their seats as they follow the children around in their quest to solve the mysteries of their family and to ultimately win the hunt. Watson's writing style thoroughly engages the reader so much so that it can almost be read in one sitting. Along with the book comes the next set of clues for the online game adventure. The game is an exciting interactive quest to solve The 39 Clues. Together with the in book clues, there are also clue packs for sets of books. These cards are then used to solve puzzles and other games with an ultimate goal to win a monetary prize.

In the end, I would give this book a 4 Star rating. The content of the book is very rich and it is exceedingly suspenseful. Though it isn't a hardcore mystery, it still would qualify as a great action adventure mystery novel. One of the draws to this series is that each book is written by a different author, which brings in the appeal of a series, but also the style of a stand-alone book. The internet game, though seemingly somewhat more difficult than the reading level of the books, is equally enticing. I will look forward to August when Book 5: The Black Circle is released.

Special thanks to Alex Nauert for contributing his review of Beyond the Grave and to Scholastic for providing a copy of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2009 — Alex Nauert — All Rights Reserved — Reprinted with Permission

If you are interested in purchasing Beyond the Grave from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): A clue found in Book 3 sends Amy and Dan jetting off to find out just what's behind the fierce rivalry between the Tomas and Ekaterina branches of the Cahill family. Was a Clue stolen from the Tomas branch? Where is it now? And most important, can Amy and Dan get their hands on it before their rivals do?

It's a wild race that will take Amy and Dan deep into the bowels of the earth … and right into the hands of the enemy.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mysteries on TV: Blue Murder, New This Week on DVD

Mysteries on TV, your source for the most complete selection of detective, amateur sleuth, private investigator, and suspense television mystery series now available or coming soon to DVD, is profiling a series that has a season DVD being released this week.

In the squad room, the cops on the Manchester murder investigation unit call Janine Lewis "boss". At home, the kids simply call her "mum". In both places, she manages to keep everybody in line but just barely with a firm yet affectionate hand. Award-winning actress Caroline Quentin brings astonishing dramatic depth to her role as a chief detective and single mom trying to balance the demands of career and family in Blue Murder. Ian Kelsey (Casualty) costars as Janine s fiercely loyal second in command and erstwhile romantic interest.

The Blue Murder: Set Four DVD set of six episodes sees Janine tackle some of her most baffling cases yet: the murders of an illegal Belarusian émigré, a suburban cheerleading coach, a rock star about to break into the big time, and more. In Blue Murder's signature style, heart-tugging domestic drama and good-natured workplace ribbing leaven each suspenseful, grimly realistic mystery.

Visit the Mysteries on TV website to discover more television mystery series currently available on DVD.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for June 29, 2009

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!).

This week's letters and mystery clue:

A B C I M N R S T

The Sherlock Holmes pastiche The Professor and the Valley of Fear was written by this author (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!

   

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Book Review: The Lord of Death by Eliot Pattison

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

The Lord of Death by Eliot Pattison
A Shan Tao Yun Mystery

Soho Crime (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-56947-579-2 (1569475792)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-579-9 (9781569475799)
Publication Date: June 2009
List Price: $24.00

Review: Shan Tao Yun tries to solve the murder of a woman who died in his arms, a woman Chinese officials claim could not have died because she was never there in the first place, in The Lord of Death, the 6th mystery in this series by Eliot Pattison.

The woman was an American, an expert climber and one who arranged tours to the Himalayas from China as opposed to from Nepal, which in turn brought in hard cash to the Chinese government overseeing, some might say occupying, the region. She had been shot in the company of a high-ranking Chinese minister, who was also killed in the same manner, when Shan comes across their car. Coincidentally, a bus carrying Tibetan monks overturns nearby. Realizing he cannot help the woman, but can aid the monks, Shan leaves the scene of the crime. He later learns his old prison commander, Colonel Tan, has been arrested for the murder of the Chinese minister but not the American woman, who officials say is off climbing somewhere. Shan is loathe to help is old enemy, but realizes Tan may be in a position to help him. Shan's only son, Ko, is in a mental hospital, about to be the subject of an "experiment" to cure him. If Shan can prove Tan did not kill the minister, Tan could arrange for the transfer of Ko into his custody. Ko wouldn't be free, but he would still be alive.

Pattison takes a fairly simple plot outline and develops the most extraordinary story around it, one that captures the reader's imagination. He's a master not only with words but with imagery. When everyone Shan meets says the American woman is alive, even those without an obvious political agenda, his frustration is apparent. "Most people were scared of ghosts because they were dead but Shan was becoming scared of this one because she would not stay dead." A former investigator for the government himself, Shan knows that Beijing will seek the truth, and act upon it, even if it doesn't become the official version of what happened. This is illustrative of some of the subtle modern politics involved in the story, which are juxtapositioned against the ancient ways and beliefs of the native Tibetans.

A subplot in The Lord of Death involving another American, a supplier of climbing equipment for foreign expeditions in Tibet, is based, according to an author's note, on a true World War II era mission by the United States to train native Tibetans in resisting the Chinese. It is expertly weaved into Shan's murder investigation and adds another layer of depth and intrigue to this outstanding mystery, one of the year's best.

Special thanks to Soho Press for providing a copy of The Lord of Death for this review.

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

If you are interested in purchasing The Lord of Death from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right. The Lord of Death (Kindle edition) is also available. Learn more about the Kindle, Amazon's Wireless Reading Device.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Shan Tao Yun is an exiled Chinese national and a former Beijing investigator on parole from the Tibetan gulag to which he had been consigned as punishment. He is ferrying a corpse on muleback over the slopes of Chomolungma—Everest—at the request of a local wisewoman who says the gods have appointed this task to him, when he encounters what looks like a traffic accident. A government bus filled with imprisoned illegal monks has overturned. Then Shan hears gunfire. Two women in an approaching sedan have been killed. One is the Chinese minister of tourism; the other, a blond Westerner, organizes climbing expeditions. Though she dies in his arms, Shan is later met with denials that this foreigner is dead.

Shan must find the murderer, for his recompense will be the life and sanity of his son, Ko, imprisoned in a Chinese “yeti factory” where men are routinely driven mad.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Book Review: The Dead Husband by R. J. Brown

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of The Dead Husband by R. J. Brown. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

The Dead Husband by R. J. Brown
A Sally Collier Mystery

Big River Press (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-9798744-7-5 (0979874475)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9798744-7-5 (9780979874475)
Publication Date: April 2009
List Price: $14.95

Review: Charwoman Sally Collier discovers a whole new meaning to the phrase "cleaning up" when she discovers the body of her employer in The Dead Husband, the light-hearted debut mystery by R. J. Brown.

Sally owns her own company, Sal's Gals, a home cleaning service in Port Townsend, Washington. One of her clients, Renee and Mel Birnbaum, own a magnificent estate overlooking the bay. She's known the family for years and is shocked when she finds the body of Mel in the garden. Naturally considered a person of interest in the case, she's asked by her beau George Tullock, the Chief of Detectives for Jefferson County, to recall everything she can leading up to her discovery of the body.

At this point, The Dead Husband takes a look back at Sally's life, from her emigration from the UK to Chicago where she married and had two children, to her subsequent move to the west coast where she originally met the Birnbaums and, much later, her arrival in Washington where she sets up her business.

The point of this journey through time is to set up Sally as someone who pays attention to details, who "sees" things others might overlook. (It may also be setting up plotlines of future books in the series.) George knows Sally has this ability and uses her talent to point out what was different about the house from her previous visit, allowing the investigation into Mel's death to be steered in the right direction.

The Dead Husband is really all about Sally, who is so well-developed as a character that she can carry the story. In a word, she's delightful. She's the type of person one would want as a friend, a self-confident woman who knows how to balance what she wants in, and from, life and what she needs. She treats everyone with respect and care, and seems almost too good to be true. Which, of course, makes her the perfect suspect for a murder!

It will be interesting to see where the author takes the series from here, but as a first book, The Dead Husband is quite entertaining.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Dead Husband and to R. J. Brown 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 The Dead Husband from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Cleaning up dead husbands is not in Sally Collier's job description so when she finds one half-buried at the bottom of his garden, her Monday morning schedule gets seriously derailed.

Sally has history with Melvin Birnbaum, the owner of the multi-million dollar home overlooking Discovery Bay on the Olympic Peninsula and after her beau, Jefferson County Chief of Detectives George Tullock warns she'll have to do a Sally Sees: remember what she saw on her arrival, her day turns into a walk down memory lane.

From a post-World War II London childhood to being a secretary and emigrating to Chicago; from years as an eager-beaver office girl to single motherhood; from heading west to the Bay Area where she met Mel, his wife Renee, their daughter, Claire and their dog, Borscht, to working in a doctor's practice in picturesque Port Townsend. Now she's a charwoman with her own company of highly qualified women, Sal's Gals, has made a good life for herself and found a good man to love.

As this feisty char's work week unfolds she's harassed by the widow Renee and her employer, the Seattle entrepreneur Alan Hatton, takes Mel's dog and the grieving daughter under her wing, shows the case detectives, Smith and Westin, a thing or two and is summoned to the reading of the deceased's will.

From her unique perspective as an immigrant and a business woman Sally isn't shy about why she loves the houses she cleans, her stories, her romance and telling how the mystery of The Dead Husband unravels.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mysteries on DVD Review: Narrow Margin

We're still in the process of setting up a new website with reviews of mystery TV shows and movies which may (or may not) have a separate blog. In the meantime, we'll continue to post our television and film reviews here on Mystery Books News and advise you of when the new site is up.

Film: Narrow Margin. Original release date: 09/21/1990; DVD release date: 03/03/2009.

Robert Caulfield (Gene Hackman), Carol Hunnicut (Anne Archer), Nelson (James B. Sikking), Michael Tarlow (J. T. Walsh), Dominick Benti (M. Emmet Walsh), Kathryn Weller (Susan Hogan), Jack Wootton (Nigel Bennett), Martin Larner (J. A. Preston), Harris Yulin (Leo Watts). Directed by Peter Hyams. Screenplay adapted from an earlier film The Narrow Margin (1952), which itself was adapted from an unpublished short story by Martin Goldsmith and Jack Leonard.

In my on-going quest to watch every film starring Gene Hackman, I unearthed Narrow Margin, made in 1990 and recently re-released on DVD. The movie also stars Anne Archer, another fine actor who rarely disappoints. Narrow Margin is a remake of a 1952 film, The Narrow Margin, which I have not seen but is widely considered to be one of the classic, if relatively minor, examples of film noir of the decade. The Narrow Margin was adapted by Martin Goldsmith and Jack Leonard from their unpublished short story of the same name and their screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award in 1953.

Gene Hackman plays Los Angeles Assistant District Attorney Robert Caulfield who learns there is a witness to a murder in which mob boss Leo Watts was present, a rare opportunity to take Watts down and put him away. The witness, Carol Hunnicut (Anne Archer), has fled the country to her brother's remote cabin in Canada. Caulfield intends to bring her back to Los Angeles to testify.

He locates Carol but they come immediately under fire from above; a helicopter has tracked Caulfield to the cabin and is shooting at them. They manage to escape in her truck to a nearby train depot where they buy tickets to Vancouver, the nearest major city. Arrival isn't until the next morning, but they think they can make it ... until Caulfield spots two men also boarding the train, identifying both as hit men. They recognize him as well, but since he's alone at the time, Carol already on board, they don't know what she looks like.

As the train heads westward overnight, it becomes a cat-and-mouse game for Caulfield, keeping Carol hidden from the two men on board the train out to kill her and coming up with a way of getting them both off the train alive.

There are no surprises in Narrow Margin, virtually every frame is utterly predictable, right down to who the good guys are and who are not. But in some ways, no, make that many ways, that's the great appeal here; it doesn't deviate from the standard thriller formula by adding unnecessary subplots or ridiculous romantic interludes or irrelevant action sequences. Rather, it focuses on engaging the viewer, drawing them in with terrific performances, a taut script, and crisp direction.

For the most part, the film is beautifully shot. Not unexpectedly, the tight confinement on board the train adds to the sense of claustrophobia experienced by both Caulfield and Carol. The external scenes contribute to this, the remoteness of the area through which the train is traveling, though vast, conveying a sense of isolation. A minor quibble: the producers cut costs with some external scenes of the train by using obvious scale models; one wonders how much they actually saved versus how poor they look in the film.

The movie ends with a short scene that, quite appropriately, features Hackman's trademark smirk.

I greatly enjoyed Narrow Margin. I especially like the fact that it remained focused on its primary storyline, was suspenseful in a Hitchcockian sort of way, and featured uniformly credible performances, in particular that of Gene Hackman, who continues to impress.

Narrow Margin runs 99 minutes and is rated R presumably for some language; the murder scenes are rather tame by today's standards and there is minimal violence.

The DVD of Narrow Margin is available to purchase as is the original 1952 film, The Narrow Margin. Both films are also available to rent from Netflix: Narrow Margin (1990) and The Narrow Margin (1952).

Reviewed on 06/28/2009 by Mr. E., television and movie critic for Mystery Books News.

Review Copyright © 2009 — Omnimystery — All Rights Reserved.

Return to Mystery Books News ...