Mystery Bestsellers for May 07, 2010

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending May 07, 2010 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

David Baldacci's non-series thriller Deliver Us from Evil moves into the top spot this week, with two new titles appearing in the top 15 (one moving up from just off the list last week).

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Debuting in 8th position is the 10th mystery in the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series, Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris.

After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Faery War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she's angry. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman.

But he's under scrutiny by the new Vampire King because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie's connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Worst of all, though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side -- and one of them is angry at Sookie.

Very, very angry ...

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Moving up to the 10th spot is A Question of Belief, the 19th mystery in the Commissario Guido Brunetti series by Donna Leon.

With his hometown of Venice beset by hordes of tourists and baking under a glaring sun, Brunetti’s greatest wish is to go to the mountains with his family, where he can sleep under a down comforter and catch up on his reading.

But before he can go on vacation, a folder with court records has landed on his desk, brought by an old friend. It appears that cases at the local court -- hardly known as a model of efficiency -- are being delayed to the benefit of one of the parties. A creative new trick for corrupting the system, perhaps, but what can Brunetti do about it? And just when it looks like Brunetti will be able to get away, a shocking, violent crime forces him to stay in Venice.

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The top four mystery bestsellers this week are shown below:

Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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Today's Featured Free Kindle Mystery: Death of a Trophy Wife by Laura Levine

Kindle Mysteries is pleased to feature a mystery title that is currently available in Kindle eBook format for free from Amazon.com. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price, so download it today!

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Death of a Trophy Wife by Laura Levine
A Jaine Austen Mystery (9th in series)
Kensington (Kindle eBook)
Download Link

About Death of a Trophy Wife (from the publisher): Freelance writer Jaine Austen is moving on up! A cushy new advertising gig promises champagne wishes and caviar dreams, but Jaine soon discovers she's not the only one in town who's making a killing ...

Without a job or a date in sight, Jaine is equally out of luck in finance and romance. So when her friend Lance offers to treat her to brunch at the Four Seasons, Jaine leaps at the chance like a fashionista at a pair of half-price Louboutins. They've barely made it through the menu when Lance spots his friend Bunny. Dressed like a million bucks--and probably worth twice that -- Bunny is the new trophy wife of mattress maven Marvin Cooper.

When Bunny generously offers Jaine a gig writing Marv's new advertising campaign, Jaine accepts the job, and an invitation to her upcoming soirée. But at the party Bunny cruelly rules the Cooper mansion with a fist full of martinis, abusing terrified staff and her browbeaten husband alike. It seems like this society girl could use a good kick in the assets. Indeed, before the evening is over, someone poisons the D-cup diva. Dead must be the new black.

The police arrest Lance, but Jaine knows his murderous urges end at her closet door. She sets out to clear his name and discovers a list of suspects longer than Bunny's credit card bill. Did Mattress Marv get tired of his little bunny hopping into another man's bed, or did a jealous boy-toy fix her a fatal cocktail? Marv's ex-wife Ellen has plenty of motives for murder, as does Bunny's harassed maid Lupe. Or was it Bunny's seething stepdaughter who sent her to that Great Shopping Mall in the Sky?

Jaine is running out of time. Jobless, Lance is losing his mind and taking it out on Jaine's apartment, wardrobe, and indignant cat Prozac. And before Jaine can say 9021Oh-no someone else is murdered. Between a house guest that won't leave, a suitor-turned-stalker, and killer on the loose, Jaine's jackpot may turn out to be fool's gold.

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BFG Offers 30% All Games This Weekend

Games of Mystery is pleased to provide our readers with current promotions that offer discounts or other incentives for purchasing mystery-themed products and services. Below is a special offer we recently received that may be of interest to you.

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Starting just after midnight tonight at 12:01 AM PT, all games (except Collector's Editions) at Big Fish Games are available for 30% off! Simple use coupon code SUPERMOM at checkout.

We frequently feature mystery and suspense games here on MBN. On our Games of Mystery site, we divide them into two categories: Adventure (or what BFG calls Large File) games and Hidden Object games. We also have a few reviews of these games, written by Ms. Terri, game reviewer for Omnimystery; she'll be reviewing many more games this summer!

The BFG Mother's Day 30% Off Sale lasts from Friday (May 7th, 2010) through midnight Sunday (May 8th, 2010). Click on the banner below to visit the site!

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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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Mystery Book Review: Haunt Me Still by Jennifer Lee Carrell

Review of Haunt Me Still by Jennifer Lee Carrell

Jennifer Lee Carrell tackles the mystery (really, mysteries) surrounding the origin of the the Bard of Avon's "Scottish Play" -- in theatrical circles, there is a taboo against naming it -- in Haunt Me Still, the second entry in this series featuring Shakespearean scholar Kate Stanley.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews.

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Haunt Me Still
Jennifer Lee Carrell
A Kate Stanley Mystery

Dutton (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-525-95077-X (052595077X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-525-95077-6 (9780525950776)
Publication Date: April 2010
List Price: $25.95

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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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TNT Announces Summer 2010 Schedule with Two New Series and Returning Favorites

Also in a press release today, TNT announced its summer 2010 schedule.

Two new series, both crime dramas, premiere.

First is Rizzoli & Isles (July 12th at 10 PM ET/PT) based on the mystery series by Tess Gerritsen, and starring Angie Harmon as Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as her crime-fighting partner medical examiner Maura Isles.

Next is Memphis Beat (June 22nd at 10 PM ET/PT), starring Jason Lee as a quirkly southern cop who has a great love for his home town and its music.

Returning series are The Closer (July 12th at 9 PM ET/PT), HawthoRNe (June 22nd at 9 PM ET/PT), Leverage (June 20th at 9 PM ET/PT), Dark Blue (August 4th at 10 PM ET/PT), and the concluding episodes of Saving Grace.

Late last week TNT also announced it had renewed the crime drama Southland for a third season.

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A&E Announces 2010 Schedule, including Four Crime Dramas in Development

In a press release today, A&E announced its 2010 upfront schedule and all of its scripted series in development are crime dramas.

Previously announced is a 13-episode order for The Glades, a character-driven police procedural set in Florida that will premiere this July.

Four series plus one mini-series are under development:

Coma, a multi-night mini-series based on the medical thriller by Robin Cook, about a doctor who discovers that something sinister is going on in her hospital after routine procedures send more than a few seemingly healthy patients into comas on the operating table. The patients are then sent to an undisclosed institute where they are to be observed; sensing something is amiss, the savvy doctor realizes that their organs are being illegally harvested for profit. She must then decide who she can trust and how to stop it, before she is silenced. The production team couldn't be more stellar: Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and David W. Zucker.

Criminology, a crime drama in which Sarah O'Rourke believes that anyone is capable of anything. As a brilliant psychology professor at a small university she can reveal an individual's true motives by setting the simplest verbal traps or false pretexts to executing extravagant 'pack' experiments on the entire university body that shine a light on the machinations of our society. So when a local detective, John Acer, comes to her for help in an unsolved case, Sarah breaks down the array of evidence into a seemingly simple study of human nature, from profiling a bank robber based upon the character mask he wears to revealing the location of a serial killer by dissecting a city's social psychology. A fascinating crime procedural that exposes the truths of why we do what we do. This series is also being developed by Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and David W. Zucker.

Big Mike, which features a plus-sized detective in a world where plus-sized is a minus. He is a force of nature in the San Diego Police Department, and his co-workers know not to underestimate him. One of the best in his field, he gets things done, knows all the right people, gets along with everyone, and knows all the best places to eat, a benefit when you're patrolling for hours on an empty stomach. Big Mike can be a charging bull while serving a warrant or a gentle giant while rescuing a child from a fire. He can be profane, relentless and even deceitful when regulations stand in the way of justice, but he intimately understands both passion and human weakness, which serves as his greatest strength as a detective and his greatest challenge in his romantic life.

American Crime in which two FBI agents, one male and one female, are partnered together and sent to unusual parts of the country to work with local police and solve crimes. Their cases expose them to different cultures each week (i.e. one week an Aryan nation community, the next an upper class neighborhood in Boston). One is a former high school teacher who is driven by passion and impulse, while the other is more centered and logical. Initially, the two are reluctant partners, though they gradually develop a strong, platonic bond, learning to trust and depend on each other.

And Hazel Rhodes, featuring the titular character who might wear her concert t-shirt a little too tight and her lipstick might be two shades too bright, but she might also be the best homicide detective Nashville has ever seen. She is the antithesis of a Southern Belle, a woman who came from nothing and clamored her way to the top of her field, she'll do anything to solve her cases, even if it means busting into a men's restroom or sneaking onto a crime scene to take photos. Sharp-tongued and quick witted, no murderer is too clever for her. Unlike most murder-mysteries, the audience will see the murder each week in the teaser so it becomes a thrill ride of cat-and-mouse each week as Hazel tries to nail the criminal before it's too late.

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New Trailer for The Killer Inside Me, adapted from the Noir Thriller by Jim Thompson

Earlier this year we reported that IFC had acquired the US distribution rights to the film adaptation of the noir thriller The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson. Now, a trailer has been released for the film, which can be seen below.

The book had previously been adapted for a 1976 film starring Stacy Keach. This updated version takes place in an idyllic West Texas town in the early 1950s and stars Casey Affleck as a handsome, charming, unassuming sheriff’s deputy named Lou Ford. As a lifelong resident, Ford has difficulty juggling his long-term girlfriend Amy (Kate Hudson), the prostitute named Joyce (Jessica Alba) that he mistakenly falls for, and the sociopathic tendencies inside him.

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Google to Start Selling E-books as early as June 2010

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is set to start selling e-books as early as next month. The company will join the other major players (Amazon.com, Apple, and Barnes&Noble) but with a twist: books sold will not be tied to a specific proprietary device, but will be available to be read on a wide range of devices, including through a website.

The books, under the banner of Google Editions, have not been priced but almost certainly will be extremely competitive with existing retailers. According to the article, publishers have yet to publicly commit to participate in the service but Google isn't expected to run into much trouble getting them to join.

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CBS Releases New Videos for 6th Jesse Stone Film, No Remorse

CBS released yesterday several videos to promote this Sunday's premiere of the sixth Jesse Stone film, No Remorse, one of which can be seen below. The Jesse Stone films, starring Tom Selleck as the (now former) police chief of Paradise, Massachusetts, are based on a character created by Robert B. Parker.

In No Remorse, Jesse, now suspended by the town council, begins moonlighting for his friend, State Homicide Commander Healy, by investigating a series of murders in Boston, leaving Rose and Suitcase to handle a crime spree in Paradise on their own. Jesse pours his energy into his work in an effort to push away his twin demons: booze and women. When his investigation leads to notorious mob boss Gino Fish, Jesse's pursuit becomes hazardous.

No Remorse airs this Sunday, May 9th, at 9 PM (ET/PT). Watch one of the four promos released by CBS below:

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Games of Mystery: Fiction Fixers in Adventures in Wonderland, 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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The Illiterati, an infamous organization dedicated to the destruction of all fiction, have struck! Their first target is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland where the entire book is in trouble of being wiped out. As a Fiction Fixer, it's your duty to protect this work of art and restore what the Illiterati has damaged.

Escort Alice through her journey in Wonderland and ensure that the story remains unchanged. Search for cleverly disguised hidden objects, solve intriguing puzzles, and play dozens of fun mini-games. Through your travels, you'll encounter classic characters such as the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, and the Queen of Hearts, but remember to keep a close eye out for the infamous Illiterati!

Fiction Fixers: Adventures in Wonderland may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (164.82 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 Ms. Terri's reviews of the adventure and casual mystery games featured on this site, including Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy, Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses!, Enlightenus, and many more!

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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Film Adaptation of the Supernatural Thriller The Keep by Jennifer Egan Gets Swedish Director

Bloody Disgusting is reporting that Swedish filmmaker Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) is attached to direct the screen adaptation of the supernatural thriller The Keep by Jennifer Egan. Ehren Kruger (Arlington Road, The Ring, The Skeleton Key, The Brothers Grimm) wrote the screenplay for Rogue Pictures, which acquired the project in 2008.

Neither the book nor its adaptation should be confused with Michael Mann's 1983 film The Keep, which was based on the novel by F. Paul Wilson.

About The Keep (from the publisher): Two cousins, irreversibly damaged by a childhood prank, reunite twenty years later to renovate a medieval castle in Eastern Europe. In an environment of extreme paranoia, cut off from the outside world, the men reenact the signal event of their youth, with even more catastrophic results. And as the full horror of their predicament unfolds, a prisoner, in jail for an unnamed crime, recounts an unforgettable story that seamlessly brings the crimes of the past and present into piercing relation.

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Mystery Book Review: 212 by Alafair Burke

Review of 212 by Alafair Burke

Alafair Burke crafts an intricate story with intersecting plotlines as her third murder investigation for NYPD homicide detective Ellie Hatcher in 212.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews.

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212
Alafair Burke
An Ellie Hatcher Mystery

Harper (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-06-156122-3 (0061561223)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-156122-1 (9780061561221)
Publication Date: April 2010
List Price: $24.99

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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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FX Networks Renews Justified and NBC Picks Up Undercovers

Two news items appeared today in The Hollywood Reporter of interest to viewers of crime and suspense dramas.

First, FX has renewed Justified for a second season of 13 episodes. Justified stars Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, a character created by crime novelist Elmore Leonard. "This pickup speaks volumes to the quality and collaboration on the series, and our unparalleled partnership with FX," said Jamie Erlicht, president of programming for Sony Pictures Television. "The viewer response to Justified has been as enthusiastic as ours was when we first heard the pitch."

Second, NBC has jumped the gun by pre-announcing its first new series for the Fall 2010 season, Undercovers, co-written, produced and directed by J. J. Abrams. "We have tremendous confidence in this promising series and feel this is a great way to kick off our upcoming upfront development announcements," said Jeff Gaspin, Chairman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment. "J. J. has delivered another signature series along with our partners at Warner Bros and we couldn't be happier." The pilot for the series stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Boris Kodjoe as a married couple who are re-activated as CIA agents after years of retirement.

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New Trailer for Winter's Bone, based on the novel by Daniel Woodrell

Earlier this year, we reported that the film adaptation of Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell had won the 2010 Sundance Grand Jury Prize. Now a trailer for the film, which is scheduled to be in select theaters this June, has been released and can be seen below.

About Winter's Bone (from the publisher): Ree Dolly's father has skipped bail on charges that he ran a crystal meth lab, and the Dollys will lose their house if he doesn't show up for his next court date. With two young brothers depending on her, 16-year-old Ree knows she has to bring her father back, dead or alive. Living in the harsh poverty of the Ozarks, Ree learns quickly that asking questions of the rough Dolly clan can be a fatal mistake. But, as an unsettling revelation lurks, Ree discovers unforeseen depths in herself and in a family network that protects its own at any cost.

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Mysteries on TV: The Murdoch Mysteries, 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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Cutting-edge Victorian science meets cunningly plotted mystery in the sassy-smart The Murdoch Mysteries, an award-winning Canadian TV drama.

Set in 1895, Yannick Bisson stars as Detective William Murdoch, a police investigator who employs emerging science to solve Toronto’s most dreadful murders. He experiments with ballistics, psychological profiling, and other newly developed techniques, despite the doubts of his tradition-bound boss (Thomas Craig). Together with a beautiful pathologist (Hélène Joy) and an able protégé (Jonny Harris), Murdoch encounters some of the era’s most famous -- and infamous -- figures, from Buffalo Bill Cody to Jack the Ripper.

The series is based on characters created by Maureen Jennings, who featured William Murdoch in seven mysteries that were published between 1997 and 2007.

The The Murdoch Mysteries: Season Two DVD set of 4 discs contain the 13 episodes that originally aired on Canadian television from February through May 2009.

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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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