Telemystery, your source for one of the most comprehensive selections of detective, amateur sleuth, private investigator, and suspense television mystery series, mini-series and made-for-television movies, now available or coming soon to DVD or Blu-ray disc, is profiling one series being released this week.
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Andy Griffith stars as Matlock, a brilliant defense attorney working in Atlanta. Utilizing his keen observation skills and well-honed intuition, he continues to successfully protect all sorts of desperate clients including a gambler, a plastic surgeon, a judge's son ... and even himself.
Matlock's fifth season finds his new private investigator and right-hand man, Conrad (Clarence Gilyard Jr.) collecting key evidence in Chicago and landing a new girlfriend.
The Matlock: Season Five DVD set of 6 discs contain the 21 episodes that originally aired on NBC from September 1990 through April 1991.
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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Michael Jennings is a journalist for the crime page of the City Times investigating a convoluted case and trying to catch a murderer. The beautiful Gloria Witkinson, a rising star in the cabaret world, has been killed, but the police are claiming it was a suicide. Now, in a story filled with intriguing plot twists, it’s up to Michael to explore a dangerous love triangle, a mysterious double life, and discover the identity of the killer.
Journalistic Stories may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (104.49 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!)
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!
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 F I L M N S U
This series of adventure thrillers featuring Kurt Austin is co-written by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos (with "The", 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.
Lucy, a novel by Laurence Gonzales, grapples with one of the most awe-inspiring proposals of biotechnology –- a human breeding with an ape. Lucy seems to onlookers to be just like any other teenage girl. She’s smart, attractive, and likes to hang with her girlfriend. But, she’s also alarmingly strong and has an uncanny understanding of the natural world. Undoubtedly, there are shocking implications of such a genetic marvel, and Gonzales demonstrates the intriguing, the shocking, and sad truths that lie behind such experimental breeding.
Seattle attorney David Sloane's most recent multi-million dollar winning medical malpractice suit against a physician doesn't sit well with him when he learns someone else may have been responsible for a young boy's death in Bodily Harm, the third legal thriller in this series by Robert Dugoni.
Simply titled Sherlock, the series stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the new Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as his loyal friend, Doctor John Watson. Rupert Graves plays Inspector Lestrade. Details from the original books remain: they live at the same address of 221b Baker Street, have the same names and, somewhere out there, Moriarty is waiting for them. Sherlock Holmes was always a modern man –- it's the world that got old. Now he's back as he should be –- edgy, contemporary, difficult – and dangerous!
From the series description, it seems a single storyline will thread its way through all three 90-minute episodes.
Next Sunday, July 25th, the first of the three episodes airs in the UK and a short preview has been released by the network (though US IP addresses are apparently restricted from viewing it). Someone has posted it on YouTube, which you can see below, and it looks like a fun, well-made modern version of these most iconic characters. We're sure it will make its way to the US at some point -- we're not aware of any immediate plans to do so -- and will look forward to seeing it!
Watch the preview of the BBC series Sherlock below.
Tomorrow, Sunday July 18th, the second of three new Poirot mysteries airing this summer on PBS Masterpiece Mystery! (See you local listings for times.)
Titled "Third Girl", it is based on one of Agatha Christie's later novels, originally published in the UK 1966, a year later in the US. It also includes the appearance of the semi-recurring character Ariadne Oliver, a crime novelist (not unlike Christie herself) whose sudden insights furnish Poirot with important clues to the solution of the mystery at hand.
In "Third Girl", Norma Restarick, a young and tormented heiress, visits Hercule Poirot with an alarming cry: "I thought you might be able to save me!" She thinks she may have committed a murder, but before Poirot can inquire further, she's gone. Soon thereafter, Poirot and Ariadne learn of a death — Norma's childhood nanny, apparently a suicide. But Norma, haunted by memories of her childhood and her own mother's suicide, is convinced she's committed the heinous crime. Norma's family and circle of friends fear for her sanity. But as Poirot delves into this compelling case and Norma's tragic past, he begins to fear for her life. Norma may be in imminent danger, but can Poirot devise a plot to lure a killer and save the fragile Norma?
"Third Girl" stars David Suchet as Hercule Poirot and Zoë Wanamaker as Ariadne Oliver.
The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a library of new mysteries, is pleased to feature a new mystery series title we recently received from the publisher.
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Running from the Devil by Jamie Freveletti An Emma Caldridge Mystery Harper (Mass Market Paperback) Publication Date: June 2010 ISBN-13: 978-0-06-168423-4
About Running from the Devil (from the publisher): Emma Caldridge, a chemist for a cosmetics company, is en route from Miami to Bogotá when her plane is hijacked and spins out of control into the mountains near the Venezuelan border. Thrown unhurt from the wreckage, she can do nothing but watch as guerillas take the others hostage.
An endurance marathon runner, Emma silently trails the guerillas and their captives, using her athletic prowess and scientific knowledge to stay alive. Those skills become essential when she discovers an injured passenger, secret government agent Cameron Sumner, separated from the group. Together they follow the hostages, staying one step ahead by staying one step behind.
As news of the hijacking breaks in Washington, the Department of Defense turns to Edward Banner, former military and current CEO of a security consulting firm, for assistance. Banner sends a special task force to the crash site, intent on locating the survivors before it’s too late.
But finding Emma and Sumner is only the beginning, as Banner starts to realize that Emma was on a personal mission when the plane went down. There is more to the talented biochemist and the circumstances surrounding the hijacking than anyone ever imagined.
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About Jamie Freveletti: A trial lawyer and a runner, she lives with her family in Chicago, Illinois. Visit her website at JamieFreveletti.com.
Games of Mystery is pleased to announce this week's new mystery and suspense casual and adventure games available for immediate download from Amazon Video Games.
Enter the world of Drawn. Unravel the secrets of the Painted Tower while overcoming challenging puzzles on your quest to save Iris. A curse has locked each floor of the tower, and only the most creative adventurer can find a way through. Enter lush painted worlds and meet fantastic characters who will help you ... and sometimes try to stop you, on your quest through the dream world of The Painted Tower. Beware! Darkness approaches the tower. Can you save her in time?
At a reception organized in honor of his daughter, Melvyn Bromsby, a rich tycoon, is about to make an important announcement concerning his future business affairs when, all of a sudden, a shot rings out. Sir Bromsby collapses, having suffered a mortal wound to the heart ... a baffling murder! Dozens of witnesses and a mysterious silver earring combine in this Sherlock Holmes mystery in which you play the famous detective in Victorian London and use your impressive array of skills to solve this intriguing affair.
Join the Unsolved Mystery Club and grab a chance to explore some of the facts and theories behind Amelia Earhart's disappearance. Find hidden artifacts, solve puzzles, and master perplexing minigames. Put on your thinking cap as you scour detailed scenes and solve one of the greatest mysteries of all time!
ESRB Rating: Everyone.
Windows Vista/XP (245 MB download).
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Games of Mystery is your source for mystery-themed video, electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, and more mysterious fun!
Conspiracy 365: May and Conspiracy 365: June by Gabrielle Lord. The fifth and sixth thrillers in the Conspiracy 365 series, recommended for readers aged 14 and older. Lexile measure: 790L and 800L, respectively. Both reviewed by a 6th grade teacher, who writes, "Caution: May is the kind of book that might even cause readers to skip meals in order to find out what happens next!" She also writes that, "June maintains the excitement and energy of the previous five books in the series and has readers anxiously awaiting July." Finally, "The "Conspiracy 365" series is quite possibly one of the best series books for young adults on the market today."
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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What was intended as a relaxing vacation to Savannah, Georgia for Claire Donnelly, quickly turned into one of adventure and mystery! Upon her arrival, Claire started experiencing unusual visions, which grew to vivid depictions of evil forces living among the citizens of this coastal city. Help Claire explain these terrifying visions in this most mysterious addition to the Hidden Mysteries series of games.
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!)
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!
Mystery Books News is delighted to welcome Tess Gerritsen as our guest blogger. Tess's latest book is Ice Cold (Ballantine Books, June 2010 Hardcover, 978-0-345-51548-3), the 8th mystery in the Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles series.
Today, Tess writes about the unlikely sources from which book ideas often originate. And she's also providing our readers with an opportunity to win a copy of her book. Visit Mystery Book Contests, click on the "Tess Gerritsen: Ice Cold" contest link, enter your name, e-mail address, and this code (3881) for a chance to win! (One entry per person; contest ends July 30, 2010.)
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Photo credit Paul D'Innocenzo, courtesy of Tess Gerritsen
The best plot ideas sometimes come from real life misadventures. One such misadventure happened to me a few summers ago in upstate New York, when my husband and I were driving to a rustic bed and breakfast. Since we didn't know the area, we'd brought along our GPS and programmed it to take us in the most direct route possible.
Half an hour later, we were bumping along a dirt road ... through a cornfield. The corn was so tall that we couldn't see in any direction, and there was no room to turn around. In fact, the road was getting even narrower. The conversation went something like this:
Me: "We should have looked at a map." Hubby: "The GPS says we're on the right road." Me: "This isn't a road." Hubby: "She (the GPS) says it's a road!" GPS (in snooty voice): "Recalculating."
Ten minutes later, we did indeed emerge from that cornfield and eventually reached our destination. "Oh yeah, a lot of our guests have gotten lost in that cornfield," the B&B clerk told us. "It's a GPS glitch."
We came through that experience with just a little mud on our tires. But those GPS "glitches" sometimes end in disaster. In England, a 20-year-old woman's car was wrecked by a train after she followed her GPS onto a railway track. In Oregon, a couple followed their GPS onto a seasonal road and got stranded in the snow for three days. Drivers have followed GPS directions into ponds, into woods, and onto one-way roads ... going the wrong way.
Sometimes, the results are tragic.
In my new book Ice Cold, a GPS mishap sets off a chain of terrifying events. While in Wyoming for a pathology conference, Dr. Maura Isles takes a spur-of-the-moment road trip with a group of new friends. Their GPS sends them up a seasonal mountain road, where their SUV gets stuck in deep snow. As night falls and the blizzard intensifies, the five shivering tourists stumble into the valley of Kingdom Come, where they find twelve identical houses. Meals are still on tables, cars still in garages, but the people have all vanished. Or have they?
Spooked by what they find, Maura and her friends are desperate to escape, but every attempt to leave Kingdom Come leads to disaster. A disaster that all began with the simple mistake of blindly following their GPS.
Ice Cold is fiction, but it also serves as a warning to anyone who's inclined to place too much faith in technology. My own experience in upstate New York taught me an important lesson -- one that Maura Isles also learns in her terrifying adventure in Wyoming.
Never travel without a map.
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Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, Tess went on to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, where she was awarded her M.D. While on maternity leave from her work as a physician, she began to write fiction, initially publishing nine romantic suspense novels and a screenplay before turning her attention to medical thrillers. Now retired from medicine, she writes full time. She lives in Maine. Visit her website at TessGerritsen.com.
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About Ice Cold: In Wyoming for a medical conference, Boston medical examiner Maura Isles joins a group of friends on a spur-of-the-moment ski trip. But when their SUV stalls on a snow-choked mountain road, they’re stranded with no help in sight.
As night falls, the group seeks refuge from the blizzard in the remote village of Kingdom Come, where twelve eerily identical houses stand dark and abandoned. Something terrible has happened in Kingdom Come: Meals sit untouched on tables, cars are still parked in garages. The town’s previous residents seem to have vanished into thin air, but footprints in the snow betray the presence of someone who still lurks in the cold darkness—someone who is watching Maura and her friends.
Days later, Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli receives the grim news that Maura’s charred body has been found in a mountain ravine. Shocked and grieving, Jane is determined to learn what happened to her friend. The investigation plunges Jane into the twisted history of Kingdom Come, where a gruesome discovery lies buried beneath the snow. As horrifying revelations come to light, Jane closes in on an enemy both powerful and merciless—and the chilling truth about Maura’s fate.
Watch the trailer for Ice Cold below.
For a chance to win a copy of Ice Cold, courtesy of Authors on the Web, visit Mystery Book Contests, click on the "Tess Gerritsen: Ice Cold" contest link, and enter your name, e-mail address, and this code (3881) in the entry form. (One entry per person; contest ends July 30, 2010.)
Warner Bros. has released a new trailer for its upcoming film The Town, based on the 2004 crime novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan. Ben Affleck co-wrote the script, stars in and directs the film. You can watch the trailer on the Apple iTunes Movie website.
The Town hits theaters September 17th. New trade paperback and mass market paperback editions of Prince of Thieves, renamed The Town and featuring Ben Affleck on the cover, go on sale August 24th.
About The Town (from the studio): Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) is an unrepentant criminal, the de facto leader of a group of ruthless bank robbers who pride themselves in stealing what they want and getting out clean. With no real attachments, Doug never has to fear losing anyone close to him. But that all changed on the gang's latest job, when they briefly took a hostage -- bank manager, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall). Though they let her go unharmed, Claire is nervously aware that the robbers know her name ... and where she lives. But she lets her guard down when she meets an unassuming and rather charming man named Doug ... not realizing that he is the same man who only days earlier had terrorized her. The instant attraction between them gradually turns into a passionate romance that threatens to take them both down a dangerous, and potentially deadly, path.
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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Journey to a foreboding island as you go undercover in a spectacular castle and unmask a murderer! Gather evidence and track down the criminal before they strike again. Discover ancient secrets as you explore the mysterious island, and find the legendary Elixir of Immortality that so many have tried to find! And if you find it, do you dare drink the Elixir?
Elixir of Immortality may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (184.01 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!)
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!
Detective Dave Robicheaux is back in New Iberia, Louisiana, and embroiled in the most harrowing and dangerous case of his career. Seven young women in neighboring Jefferson Davis Parish have been brutally murdered. While the crimes have all the telltale signs of a serial killer, the death of Bernadette Latiolais, a high school honor student, doesn’t fit: she is not the kind of hapless and marginalized victim psychopaths usually prey upon. Robicheaux and his best friend, Clete Purcel, confront Herman Stanga, a notorious pimp and crack dealer whom both men despise. When Stanga turns up dead shortly after a fierce beating by Purcel, in front of numerous witnesses, the case takes a nasty turn, and Clete’s career and life are hanging by threads over the abyss.
Adding to Robicheaux’s troubles is the matter of his daughter, Alafair, on leave from Stanford Law to put the finishing touches on her novel. Her literary pursuit has led her into the arms of Kermit Abelard, celebrated novelist and scion of a once prominent Louisiana family whose fortunes are slowly sinking into the corruption of Louisiana’s subculture. Abelard’s association with bestselling ex-convict author Robert Weingart, a man who uses and discards people like Kleenex, causes Robicheaux to fear that Alafair might be destroyed by the man she loves. As his daughter seems to drift away from him, he wonders if he has become a victim of his own paranoia. But as usual, Robicheaux’s instincts are proven correct and he finds himself dealing with a level of evil that is greater than any enemy he has confronted in the past.
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Just one place lower at number 9 is Faithful Place by Tana French, the third suspense novel in the Dublin murder squad series.
Back in 1985, Frank Mackey was nineteen, growing up poor in Dublin's inner city, and living crammed into a small flat with his family on Faithful Place. But he had his sights set on a lot more. He and Rosie Daly were all ready to run away to London together, get married, get good jobs, break away from factory work and poverty and their old lives.
But on the winter night when they were supposed to leave, Rosie didn't show. Frank took it for granted that she'd dumped him -- probably because of his alcoholic father, nutcase mother, and generally dysfunctional family. He never went home again.
Neither did Rosie. Everyone thought she had gone to England on her own and was over there living a shiny new life. Then, twenty-two years later, Rosie's suitcase shows up behind a fireplace in a derelict house on Faithful Place, and Frank is going home whether he likes it or not.
Getting sucked in is a lot easier than getting out again. Frank finds himself straight back in the dark tangle of relationships he left behind. The cops working the case want him out of the way, in case loyalty to his family and community makes him a liability. Faithful Place wants him out because he's a detective now, and the Place has never liked cops. Frank just wants to find out what happened to Rosie Daly -- and he's willing to do whatever it takes, to himself or anyone else, to get the job done.
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The top four mystery bestsellers this week are shown below:
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