First Poster for Cowboys and Aliens

We generally don't feature westerns or science fiction on this site unless there is a strong mystery or suspense component, but we're going to make an exception here for an upcoming film that has our attention.

The first poster for Cowboys & Aliens, adapted from the 2006 graphic novel of the same title, was published today on Yahoo! Movies. Starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, this action thriller will take audiences into the Old West, where a lone cowboy leads an uprising against a terror from beyond our world. (Click on the image for a larger version.)

Here's the official synopsis from the studio: 1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger (Daniel Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don't welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). It's a town that lives in fear.

But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known.

Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he's been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents-townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors-all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.

Cowboys & Aliens, a book tie-in (or maybe a re-issue of the original graphic novel), has a publication date of February 2011.

The first trailer for the film, which is expected in theaters Summer 2011, is scheduled to be released this Wednesday.

Winner of the 2010 Tony Hillerman Prize Announced

The winner of the 2010 Tony Hillerman Prize, awarded to a first-time author of a mystery set in the southwestern United States, is The Territory by Tricia Fields, which "captures the Southwest’s inimitable landscape and the current border issues as they affect the regular people living in a remote [west Texas] town near the Rio Grande."

Hat tip to The Rap Sheet for posting this information.

A Little Death in Dixie by Lisa Turner (Book Review)

A Little Death in Dixie by Lisa Turner. A Billy Able Mystery. Bell Bridge Books Trade Paperback, June 2010.

The plot here is quite convoluted, but how it plays out comes across as more unnecessarily complicated than anything else, in part due to one too many narrative points of view, which seems to add length to an already long novel without adding much substance.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: A Little Death in Dixie by Lisa Turner.

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Read the first chapters of A Little Death in Dixie below.

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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.

NBC Schedules The Cape as Midseason Series

Last spring, prior to the networks announcing their Fall 2010 schedules, NBC was considering what to do with The Cape, about a cop framed for murder who becomes a masked superhero in an effort to protect his family and clear his name.

Now, EW.com is reporting that NBC has added the series as a mid-season replacement, to air on Mondays at 9 PM (ET/PT). The series will open with a 2-hour premiere on Sunday, January 9th, 2011.

The setup: Officer Vince Faraday (David Lyons) was a good cop trying to clean up a corrupt city. Framed for murder and left for dead, he suddenly found himself separated from his wife and son and forced into hiding. Now, inspired by his son's favorite comic book hero, he's taking the law into his own hands, and playing a deadly game of chess with the powerful kingpin who framed him. With the hope of one day reuniting with his family, The Cape is sending a loud message to all criminals ... run.

Watch a preview clip below:

Help Nine Hostages Escape in 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, New for Nintendo DS

You must uncover the mystery surrounding the lives of the nine captive characters and how their blurry pasts reveal a disturbing future in 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, which releases tomorrow, November 16th, for Nintendo DS.

Junpei, a fairly normal college student finds himself involved in a deadly conspiracy that he couldn’t have possibly imagined.

He awakes aboard an old passenger ferry, dazed and confused. He stumbles around the room trying to reclaim his memories. First thing he notices is a number roughly drawn on the cabin’s door … a bright red number 5. Junpei’s memory then returns and he remembers what happened right before becoming unconscious! A mysterious person with a gas mask crosses his mind. He remembers the haunting words he spoke, “I’m gonna make you play the game … the ‘Nonary Game’ … the game of life or death”.

You only have nine hours before Junpei and the other eight kidnapped drown. Numerology, music composition and logic puzzles are just a few of the 32 plus obstacles that stand in the way of their freedom.

Help all the characters escape but beware! A wrong decision or careless mistake might put their lives in jeopardy.

Each hostage is cursed with a digital watch that displays their special number. These numbers are the keys to unlocking the 9 doors. Explore your surrounding for clues to unlock the next door by picking up and examining objects. You must use everything in your environment and personal experience to get out.

9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors is ESRB rated M.

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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!

Perry Mason and Wycliffe, New This Week on DVD

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 two series being released this week.

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Raymond Burr stars as the famed criminal defense attorney Perry Mason in a series that ran for nine seasons from 1957 through 1966.

The series also stars Barbara Hale as his trusted secretary Della Street and William Hopper as his investigator Paul Drake. William Talman handles the duties as District Attorney Hamilton Burger, and in an increasingly diminished role due to poor health, Ray Collins appears in some episodes as Police Lieutenant Arthur Tragg.

The Perry Mason: Season Five (V2) DVD set of 4 discs contain the 15 episodes that aired on CBS during the second half of the 1961/1962 television season.

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The final two seasons of Wycliffe are being released concurrently this week.

The wild, craggy Cornish coast seems ideal for hiding serious crimes, but forthright and observant Detective Superintendent Wycliffe (Jack Shepherd) leads an investigative team charged with solving each baffling case. Immigration and insurance swindlers, kidnappers, treasure seekers, suspicious suicides and murderous doctors are some of the cunning criminals they pursue in the intriguing mysteries of this gripping, British police drama.

Wycliffe is based on a series character created by crime novlist W. J. Burley, who featured the police officer in 22 mysteries published from 1968 through 2000.

The Wycliffe: Series Four DVD set of 3 discs contain the 9 episodes that originally aired on ITV during the summer of 1997. The Wycliffe: Series Five DVD set of 3 discs contain the 6 episodes that originally aired on ITV from May through July 1998.

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

Always Kiss the Corpse on Whidbey Island by Sandy Frances Duncan and George Szanto (Book Review)

Always Kiss the Corpse on Whidbey Island by Sandy Frances Duncan and George Szanto. An Islands Investigations International Mystery. TouchWood Editions Hardcover, October 2010.

The authors keep the storyline narrowly focused on the investigation, but in order for the overall mystery to work, one has to buy into the initial premise that Sandro is Sandro but not Sandro -- which some readers may find difficult to do.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Always Kiss the Corpse on Whidbey Island by Sandy Frances Duncan and George Szanto.

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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.

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for November 15, 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!).

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This week's letters and mystery clue:

A D I K L N R T U

This is the title of the 2nd Kendra Smith thriller by Mariah Stewart.

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!

Don't Look Back by Lynette Eason (Book Review)

Don't Look Back by Lynette Eason. A Women of Justice Mystery. Revell Trade Paperback, October 2010.

This intense thriller is not a book to be read late at night if one expects to sleep. The characters are richly drawn and draw the reader in, as if they're part of the action as well. The strongly developed plot races forward, ever fearful but also ever hopeful.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Don't Look Back by Lynette Eason.

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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.

A Dead Man in Malta by Michael Pearce (Book Review)

A Dead Man in Malta by Michael Pearce. A Seymour of Scotland Yard Mystery. Soho Constable Hardcover, November 2010.

The mysteries in this series are typically more focused on character and setting (both time and place) than plot, and this is no exception. Even so, the motive for the murders seems particularly weakly developed, as is how Seymour is led to identify the killer.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: A Dead Man in Malta by Michael Pearce.

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Read the first chapters of A Dead Man in Malta below.

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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.

Mr. E. Reviews Midsomer Murders: Village Case Files

I would be repeating myself (or rapidly running out of synonyms) if I tried to critique each of the 16 episodes in Midsomer Murders: Village Case Files (originally released by the studio as Sets 9 through 12). The scripts are typically well plotted, John Nettles is uniformly superb as Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Barnaby of the (fictional) Causton CID, and the production always has a great look to it. The comfortable familiarity with what to expect in each episode -- coupled with the unexpected surprise here and there -- is what makes this series so successful and popular. There are no poorly developed episodes in this set, and more than a few that rank among the best.

Read the full text of our review at Mr. E. Reviews: Midsomer Murders: Village Case Files.

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Mr. E. Reviews is your source for mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime drama reviews of television and film.

Act of Evil by Ron Chudley (Book Review)

Act of Evil by Ron Chudley. A Hal Bannatyne Mystery. TouchWood Editions Hardcover, October 2010.

There's a nice balance of character, setting, action and uncertainty as to what's to come, plot-wise, that provides a solid introduction to and foundation for what seems likely to be an interesting series of mysteries.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Act of Evil by Ron Chudley.

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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.

The Shadow Woman by Åke Edwardson (Book Review)

The Shadow Woman by Åke Edwardson. An Erik Winter Mystery. Penguin Books Trade Paperback, September 2010.

While this police procedure-style novel has an intriguing, if rather complicated, plot, one that propels the reader forward, it's not an easy book to read. The investigative details sometimes disrupt the pacing of the narrative and there are abrupt transitions between the past and the present.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: The Shadow Woman by Åke Edwardson.

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Read the first chapters of The Shadow Woman below.

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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.

Reveal the Truth in a Modern Noir Thriller in Downtown Secrets, New from AVG

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.

A complete list of downloadable mystery games is available on our Games of Mystery: Amazon Video Games Download page.

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Downtown Secrets

Investigate the seedy streets of an underworld teeming with deceit and corporate conspiracy.

When a former flame is accused of murder, attorney Alex Frasier is forced to risk his livelihood to uncover the truth. Will he find a way to reveal who or what is behind a growing string of violence?

Hunt for clues across a neon landscape of hip cafes, cocktail lounges, and back alleys. Search for facts, decipher cryptic documents, solve puzzles and take a step back in time to discover evidence that was removed only moments before you arrived. Reveal the hair-raising truth in this modern-noir thriller.

ESRB Rating: Not Specified.

Windows Vista/XP (120 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!

Authors on Tour: Sheldon Russell Visits My Book Views and Drey's Library

Please join Sheldon Russell as he visits several blog sites this week during his online book tour for the second mystery in his Hook Runyon series, The Insane Train (Minotaur Books, Hardcover, November 2010, 978-0-312-56671-5), which is published this month.

Today, Saturday November 13th, Sheldon is visiting two sites:

• My Book Views: Book Review
• Drey's Library: Author Interview

You'll also have a chance to win a copy of The Insane Train, courtesy of the author. Simply visit each site on the tour, pick up a PIN code, and enter that code with your name and e-mail address on the Sheldon Russell tour page for a chance to win!