Games of Mystery: Caribbean Adventure, a Cruise Clues Mystery, New at Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery casual game from Big Fish Games released today and available to BFG Club members. 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.

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Players take on the roll of Angelina, a detective that is trying to track down an illusive jewel thief. The thief has stolen jewels from all over the world and Angelina has tracked the thief down to an exclusive Millionaire’s Caribbean cruise. The King of Diamonds, as the thief is known, hits the rich and famous as they are cruising around the world. The exclusive jewels go missing and are replaced by a playing card left by the King of Diamonds. Use your hidden object skills to discover helpful hints needed to track down and catch the thief!

Cruise Clues: Caribbean Adventure may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (128.29 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.

Watch a preview video below:

Get any standard game for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. Other benefits include the $2.99 Daily Deal, Tomorrow's Game Today, and special member rewards. And if you purchase any 6 games within a single month, you earn a free game with the Big Fish Game Club Monthly Punch Card! (Collector's Editions earn 3 punches each, half-way towards your free game!)

Read our new game reviews by Ms. Terri: Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy (Review), Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses! (Review), The Hardy Boys: The Perfect Crime (Review), Enlightenus (Review), and Nick Chase: A Detective Story (Review).

Big Fish Games: Bestsellers

Big Fish Games: New releases

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Games of Mystery is your source for mystery-themed video, electronic, and board games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations!

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Nancy Drew Celebrates 80 Years in Print

Many news organizations (e.g. USA Today) are reporting on the 80th anniversary of the publication of the first Nancy Drew mystery, The Secret of the Old Clock by the pseudonymous Carolyn Keene, on April 28th, 1930. Grosset & Dunlap is celebrating by producing a special 80th Anniversary edition of the book (cover depicted to the right). The series was originally created by Edward Stratemeyer, who was also the creative force behind The Hardy Boys among other series.

Nancy Drew has since been featured in hundreds of books, dozens of games, and several films. She is an industry unto herself!

Fifty-six books in the original series were published between 1930 and 1979, with the first 34 substantially updated and/or rewritten starting in 1959. An additional 119 titles (part of the so-called "Mystery Stories") followed until 2003. But in between there were also 124 books in the "Nancy Drew Files" series and 69 books in the "Notebooks" series, which featured a young Nancy Drew. This latter series was reimagined as the current Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew mysteries for young readers, while the teenaged Nancy Drew continues to solve crimes in the All New Girl Detective series. Nancy Drew is also featured in a separate series of graphic novels!

But for those who want to see how it all began, The Secret of the Old Clock is the place to start. Happy Anniversary, Nancy Drew!

About The Secret of the Old Clock (from the publisher): When the Topham family inherits all of Josiah Crowley's fortune, something isn't right about the whole affair. Josiah promised other friends and relatives that they would inherit. In Nancy's first case, she searches for a hidden will in order to help restore the inheritances to the rightful heirs. Being locked in a closet by robbers and a narrow escape with an old clock lead to Nancy solving this baffling mystery!

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FX Networks Picks Up Pilot for Crime Thriller Outlaw Country

Deadline is reporting that FX Networks has picked up the pilot for Outlaw Country, a crime thriller / family drama set in Nashville. Josh Goldin (Darkman) and Los Angeles Times entertainment writer Rachel Abramowitz wrote the screenplay for the pilot, which has been completed, with production expected to begin in the fall; it is in consideration for a series order by the network. Shooter Jennings, son of the late country star Waylon Jennings, is credited as an executive consultant and music supervisor.

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Readers Choose Cover of The Overton Window, a Thriller by Glenn Beck

A week or so ago, syndicated radio and television host Glenn Beck asked readers to vote for one of four choices to be used as the cover for his upcoming political thriller, The Overton Window. The winner, announced today and shown to the right, depicts the Statue of Liberty as a bearded man with a staff in addition to the familiar torch. Available for pre-order now, the scheduled publication date is June 15th, 2010.

About The Overton Window (from the publisher): There is a powerful technique called the Overton Window that can shape our lives, our laws and our future. It works by manipulating public perception so that ideas previously thought of as radical begin to seem acceptable over time. Move the Window and you change the debate. Change the debate and you change the country.

For Noah Gardner, a twenty something public relations executive, it's safe to say that political theory is the furthest thing from his mind. Smart, single, handsome and insulated from the world's problems by the wealth and power of his father, Noah is far more concerned about the future of his social life than the future of his country.

But all of that changes when Noah meets Molly Ross, a woman who is consumed by the knowledge that the America we know is about to be lost forever. She and her group of patriots have vowed to remember the past and fight for the future—but Noah, convinced they're just a bunch of freaky conspiracy-theorists, isn't interested in lending his considerable skills to their cause.

And then the world changes.

An unprecedented attack on U.S. soil shakes the country to the core and puts into motion a frightening plan, decades in the making, to transform America and demonize all those who stand in the way. Amidst the chaos, many don't know the difference between conspiracy theory and conspiracy fact—or, more importantly, which side to fight for.

But for Noah, the choice is clear: Exposing the plan, and revealing the conspirators behind it, is the only way to save both the woman he loves and the individual freedoms he once took for granted.

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Nominations for 2010 David Award Announced

The nominees for the 2010 David G. Sasher, Sr. Award (the "David)" for the best mystery published during 2009 were announced today by Deadly Ink.

The nominees are:

◊ Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child
◊ Dying for Mercy by Mary Jane Clark 
◊ Long Lost by Harlan Coben 
◊ Never Tell a Lie by Hallie Ephron
◊ Dead Man's Puzzle by Parnell Hall
◊ Killer Cuts by Elaine Viets 

The winner will be announced at an awards banquet during the Deadly Ink conference in June.

 indicates a review by Mysterious Reviews.

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Harlan Coben to Write Young Adult Thriller Series

Harlan Coben announced on the GalleyCat blog that he has signed a deal with Penguin Young Readers Group to write three books featuring a teenager investigating "a conspiracy that may reach deep into his family history."

He also said that the series will include appearances by his adult crime fiction series characters, Myron Bolitar and Win Lockwood.

Young Readers president Don Weisberg said, "I have been a fan of Harlan Coben's since his first Myron Bolitar novel Deal Breaker was published in 1995. He is a master at creating complex, layered, fast-paced capers and we know teens are going to love his new series."

The first book in the series is expected to be published in 2011.

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New Mystery Series Happy Town Premieres Tomorrow on ABC

Tomorrow, Wednesday April 28th at 10 PM (ET/PT), the mystery series Happy Town premieres on ABC.

As the promos say, don't let the series title fool you. Haplin, Minnesota, "Happy Town," has enjoyed an uneasy peace for five years, but all that is about to change. Still haunted by a number of unsolved kidnappings, the small town now faces a dark new crime that brings all its unresolved fears to the surface. Has the elusive "Magic Man" -- who many believe is responsible for the bizarre abductions -- returned to claim another victim? As Haplin's mysteries are revealed, many of its prominent citizens' motives come under scrutiny as their own secrets and personalities are peeled back one layer at a time.

Here's more from the ABC website, where you can find more information including character biographies, followed by a first look at the series:

Dragged away from his idyllic family life to investigate the new spate of crimes, Tommy Conroy (Geoff Stults), a small town deputy under the wing of his dad, long-time popular Sheriff Griffin Conroy (M.C. Gainey), has never had to take charge of Haplin's law enforcement. His comfortable lifestyle is suddenly turned upside down by a bizarre set of circumstances and he must learn to pool his smarts -- without the necessary training and tools -- to rally the residents, as well as to keep his wife, Rachel (Amy Acker), daughter Emma (Sophia Ewaniuk) and the rest of Haplin safe.

On the other side of town, the long shadow of the Haplin founding family, represented by mysterious matriarch Peggy Haplin (Frances Conroy) and her son, John (Steven Weber), who runs the local bread factory, "Our Daily" Bakery and Confectionery, try to maintain control. John's daughter was one of the "Magic Man's" victims, and he has not given up hope of finding her and seeing justice done. Little does he know that his son, Andrew (Ben Schnetzer), has been carrying on a hot, secret romance with the Conroys' babysitter, Georgia Bravin (Sarah Gadon), who is definitely from the other side of the tracks.

When Henley Boone (Lauren German) drops in on Haplin, she is struck by the purple mountain majesty of this sun-splashed town, tempered by a recurring bit of curious graffiti -- a halo with a question mark under it. Henley's mother used to spend time vacationing here, and while looking to uncover information about her family's past, Henley finds herself drawn into a web of romance and intrigue she never could have foreseen. What's she really here for, and can she be trusted?

But Henley isn't the only outsider to make a home in Haplin. From his charming but irrelevant film memorabilia shop, The House of Ushers, to his way with the lively widows residing at the Meadows Boarding House with him, the ever-dapper Merritt Grieves (Sam Neill) seems strangely sinister ... or is he? What does he have to hide?

Haplin is full of colorful characters, including Big Dave Duncan (Abraham Benrubi) and the nefarious Stiviletto brothers, but many in this small town in middle America have skeletons in their closets. Who will step up and help unearth the secrets that have festered under Haplin's cheery exterior? How will its citizens deal with the revelations? And who is the "Magic Man"? Does he really exist, and can he be stopped?

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Lionsgate Acquires US Distribution Rights to Film Adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

In a press release yesterday, Lionsgate announced the studio has acquired the US distribution rights to the film adaptation of the legal thriller The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly from Lakeshore Entertainment, who secured the rights to the novel prior to its publication in 2005.

Matthew McConaughey will star as criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller, who, as the title suggests, operates out of his Lincoln Town Car. Marisa Tomei co-stars. The supporting cast includes Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy, John Leguizamo, Michael Pena, Trace Adkins, and Katherine Moennig. Production is scheduled to begin this summer in Los Angeles.

About The Lincoln Lawyer (from the publisher): Mickey Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the backseat of his Lincoln Town Car, traveling between the far-flung courthouses of Los Angeles to defend clients of every kind. Bikers, con artists, drunk drivers, drug dealers -- they're all on Mickey Haller's client list. For him, the law is rarely about guilt or innocence, it's about negotiation and manipulation. Sometimes it's even about justice.

A Beverly Hills playboy arrested for attacking a woman he picked up in a bar chooses Haller to defend him, and Mickey has his first high-paying client in years. It is a defense attorney's dream, what they call a franchise case. And as the evidence stacks up, Haller comes to believe this may be the easiest case of his career. Then someone close to him is murdered and Haller discovers that his search for innocence has brought him face-to-face with evil as pure as a flame. To escape without being burned, he must deploy every tactic, feint, and instinct in his arsenal -- this time to save his own life.

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Universal to Acquire Film Rights to the Maximum Ride Series by James Patterson

It's a little surprising it's taken this long for some studio to take a serious interest in the Maximum Ride series of young adult science fiction thrillers by James Patterson, but The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog is reporting that Universal is close to acquiring the rights to the books from Sony's Columbia Pictures. A script is in development, though it isn't clear from the article if it is based on the first book in the series or is an original screenplay.

There are currently six books in the series. The first, The Angel Experiment, was published in 2005; the most recent, Fang, published last month.

About Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment (from the publisher): Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it's like to soar above the world. She and all the members of the "flock" -- Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel -- are just like ordinary kids -- only they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at any time ... like when Angel, the youngest member of the flock, is kidnapped and taken back to the "School" where she and the others were experimented on by a crew of wack jobs. Her friends brave a journey to blazing hot Death Valley to save Angel, but soon enough, they find themselves in yet another nightmare -- this one involving fighting off the half-human, half-wolf "Erasers" in New York City. Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of the Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take the ride of their lives. Along the way Max discovers from her old friend and father-figure Jeb -- now her betrayed and greatest enemy -- that her purpose is save the world -- but can she?

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Mystery Book Review: A Deadly Draught by Lesley A. Diehl

A Deadly Draught
by Lesley A. Diehl
A Hera Knightsbridge Mystery

Mainly Murder Press (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-9825899-2-1 (0982589921)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9825899-2-2 (9780982589922)
Publication Date: April 2010
List Price: $14.95

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Review: Master microbrewer Hera Knightsbridge has more than just financial troubles on her mind when she's accused of murdering a competitor in A Deadly Draught, the first mystery in this series by Lesley A. Diehl.

Hera desperately needs a loan to keep her microbrewery in upstate New York afloat. She left law school and took over the operation following the suicide of her father, and though she knows her craft, she's in a bit over her head. But one of her neighborly competitors, the owner of Ramford Beer, wants to buy her out and is leaning on the bank to stall any decision on her loan. She agrees to meet Ramford one night to discuss a potential financial arrangement, only to find him dead, his head bashed in. Though she had motive and opportunity, there are plenty of other suspects in their close-knit community who had reason to kill him. Working together with Jake, a former law school lover and now a local police officer, they learn that Ramford's murder be related to the death of Hera's own father.

A Deadly Draught is an ambitious start to a series, though with far too many layers to it. As a craft- or theme-driven cozy, it isn't, well, cozy enough, having an overly complicated plot and not sufficiently engaging the reader in what happens. Part of the problem here may be that the writing often seems flat and uninspired, not as polished as it could be. Hera Knightsbridge is an appealing character, and there are some interesting side notes on the brewing of beer, but overall too much attention is focused on her; given how it all unfolds, it might have been preferable for Hera to play a role in the story rather than being the story.

Still, it's easy to see potential for both the character and the series. A Deadly Draught may just be a shaky first step.

Special thanks to Mainly Murder Press for providing a copy of A Deadly Draught for this review.

Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

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Synopsis (from the publisher): The lack of water and capital could put master beer brewer Hera Knightsbridge out of business ... and then things get worse. Much worse. Money is always a problem for Hera's microbrewery, but now water is scarce, as well. Worse, Hera discovers a rival brewer murdered in her Butternut Valley brew barn, making her the authorities' favorite suspect. To clear her name, Hera joins forces with local lawman Jake Ryan, her former lover from law school days. There's unfinished business between these two, and the sparks fly as they pursue a killer who has targeted Hera as his next victim.

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Mysterious Reviews is your source for the latest mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime novel reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

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Clive Owen To Star Opposite Jason Statham in The Killer Elite, based on the novel The Feather Men by Ranulph Fiennes

Variety is reporting that Clive Owen will star opposite Jason Statham in The Killer Elite, a film adaptation of the 1993 fact-based thriller The Feather Men by Ranulph Fiennes.

The project was announced a year ago at Cannes, with filming now expected to begin in Australia in May.

About The Feather Men (from the publisher): This adventure story, based on fact, tells the story of two secret organizations. One, the clinic, consisting a group of contract killers, and the other, the feathermen, an elite group of vigilantes drawn from the ranks of England's select paramilitary operatives, who were charged with eliminating the contract killers who are so deft that their hits appeared to be merely accidents.

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Mysteries on TV: Murphy's Law, 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 or Blu-ray disc, is profiling one series being released this week.

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James Nesbitt returns as undercover cop Tommy Murphy in the action-packed crime drama Murphy's Law. Guilt-ridden over the death of his young daughter, who was slain by the IRA, he flees to London to work undercover for the Metropolitan Police.

The stakes are higher, the stories grittier, and Murphy even more tormented. He takes on six different personas as he hunts for a serial killer, investigates a young officer’s death, joins an Interpol investigation, tracks down the truth about a biotech laboratory, solves a suicide in a convent, and has the chance to exact a very personal revenge.

The series is based on characters created by novelist Colin Bateman.

The Murphy's Law: Season Two DVD set of 2 discs contain the six episodes that originally aired on BBC from May through June, 2004.

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Visit the Mysteries on TV website to discover more television mystery series currently available on DVD and Blu-ray disc.

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Winners of the 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Announced

The winners of the 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes were announced this past weekend during the LA Times Festival of Books honoring the best books of 2009. Winners were selected in many categories.

And the winner in the Mystery / Thriller category is:

◊ The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville  (Soho Crime)

The judges said, "Stuart Neville’s stunning debut novel delivers an inspired, gritty view of violence’s aftermath and the toll it takes on each person involved – especially on one haunted, redemption-seeking ex-IRA hitman. Along the way, Neville condenses the fear and hate that has troubled Northern Ireland, still under the thumb of decades of domestic terrorism, for decades."

For a complete list of winners, see the LA Times website.

 indicates a review by Mysterious Reviews.

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Mystery Godoku Puzzle for April 26, 2010

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 E G H I M N W Y

Georgette Heyer’s mysteries feature Superintendent Hannasyde and this Inspector (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!

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Mystery Book Review: The Ragtime Fool by Larry Karp

The Ragtime Fool
by Larry Karp
A Scott Joplin Mystery

Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-699-9 (1590586999)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-699-0 (9781590586990)
Publication Date: April 2010
List Price: $24.95

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Review: Larry Karp concludes his ragtime trilogy with The Ragtime Fool, setting the story some 45 years after the events in the previous book in the series (The King of Ragtime) and long after Scott Joplin's death in 1917.

Ragtime seems to be making a comeback. At least it seems so in 1951 Sedalia, Missouri. Plans are underway to place a plaque in the local Negro High School to honor Scott Joplin, the "King of Ragtime", who once lived in the town around the turn of the century. Brun Campbell was Joplin's only white student back in his Harlem days and he is helping to establish the musician's legacy. But tensions run high in this small town. Restaurants and theaters are segregated and the Klan meets regularly. In fact, they are planning to bomb the high school during the ceremony. It isn't clear if they intend to follow through on their threat, but just announcing it may be enough to keep people away and prevent it from occurring.

Separately, 17-year-old Alan Chandler plays ragtime on the piano in his New Jersey home as often as possible, much to the dismay of his parents, who don't find the music appropriate for a white suburban boy. He knows of Brun Campbell from news reports on the radio, and is aware of the upcoming festivities to honor Joplin in Sedalia. He writes Brun, who tells him that Joplin kept a diary that is currently with his aging widow in New York. With the enthusiasm -- and just a bit of rebelliousness -- of a teenager, Alan and his girlfriend travel to New York to pick up the diary and then on to Sedalia to deliver it to Brun. But someone else wants the diary: jazz critic and historian Rudi Blesh, who would do just about anything to get his hands on it.

The Ragtime Fool is a poignant story, a tale of two generations that share a common love of music, the common thread between them the ragtime composer Scott Joplin. It isn't a mystery by any standard definition, but the characters (many of whom are real, historical figures), settings, and pacing of the at times suspenseful plot will not disappoint fans of the genre.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Ragtime Fool and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

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Synopsis (from the publisher): It's 1951, and ragtime is making a comeback. In Sedalia, Missouri, plans are well along for a ceremony to honor Scott Joplin. Brun Campbell, the old Ragtime Kid, is working to establish Joplin's legacy. Brun learns of a journal Joplin kept and wants to show it to Sedalia's movers and shakers, hoping to persuade them to set up a ragtime museum. Unfortunately for Brun, author/historian Rudi Blesh is determined to publish the journal. Also, Joplin's old friend wants to suppress the material. Even worse, two Sedalia Klansmen are hot after the journal, and don't care if they have to kill someone to get it. What's one murder, compared to the Klansmen's grand plan to blow up the high school auditorium with its integrated audience during the ceremony? In the middle of this imbroglio is Alan Chandler, a 17-year-old pianist in love with ragtime. If Alan can stay alive, he may be able to prevent catastrophe and learn what it really means to be black in mid-twentieth century America.

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Mysterious Reviews is your source for the latest mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime novel reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

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