The First Nancy Drew Mystery Game, Secrets Can Kill (Remastered), New at BFG

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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Jake Rogers was murdered and his killer is on the loose. A secret died with him that night, and you, as Nancy Drew, must read between the lines to expose the culprit!

Help Nancy go undercover at a high school to solve the mysterious killing and keep the murderer from claiming his next victim.

This is a remastered version of the first game in the "Nancy Drew" series, with updated graphics and new puzzles, and a new ending to the adventure.

Nancy Drew 01: Secrets Can Kill (Remastered) may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. Due to its large size, a demonstration version is not available.

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!

Telemystery: The Snoop Sisters, 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 on or coming soon to DVD or Blu-ray disc, is profiling one series being released this week.

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Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick star as The Snoop Sisters, Ernesta and Gwendolyn, whose insatiable curiosity all too often leads them to be deeply embroiled in real-life murders in New York City.

Both actresses were nominated for a Best Lead Actress Emmy for their performances in 1974, which Natwick won.

The The Snoop Sisters: The Complete Series DVD set of 3 discs contain the 1972 pilot plus the four episodes that aired as part of the rotating NBC weekly mystery movie from 1973 through 1974.

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

New Poster for Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides

Last week we posted a banner-sized poster released by the studio for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Today, Disney has released a standard-sized poster (shown right; click for larger image).

The film, the fourth in the series and which stars Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow on a quest to discover the Fountain of Youth, is adapted from Tim Powers' novel On Stranger Tides. It opens in theaters May 20th.

The Headhunter's Daughter by Tamar Myers (Mystery Book Review)

The Headhunter's Daughter by Tamar Myers. An Amanda Brown Mystery. William Morrow Trade Paperback, January 2011.

There is much to admire in this novel, from its interesting characters and vivid depictions of the countryside, though it is far more of a narrative on life in the late 1950s Belgian Congo -- and a somewhat heavy-handed one at that -- than it is a mystery.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: The Headhunter's Daughter by Tamar Myers.

Purchase Options:  |  |  | 

Read the first chapter(s) of The Headhunter's Daughter below. Use the Aa settings button to adjust text size, line spacing, and word density.

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for March 14, 2011

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 C E F I L O T V

Actor and amateur sleuth Hal Bannatyne is introduced in this mystery by Ron Chudley (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!

Reviews of Mystery and Suspense Books for Kids, New This Week on Book Trends (110312)

Book Trends, a review site for young adult and children books, published several new book reviews this past week. We're presenting here a summary of those in the mystery/suspense/thriller category.

Break and Enter by Norah McClintock. The fourth mystery in the Chloe & Levesque series, recommended for readers aged 13 and older. Lexile measure: N/A. Reviewed by a 6th grade student, who writes, "I have read many creepy mysteries, but this is the best suspenseful mystery I have read. ... The details on every page make you daydream the story in your head." (Read the entire review.)

For more reviews of children and young adult books of all genres, visit Book Trends; their reviews will amaze you! You can also follow Book Trends on Twitter.

Jennifer Lawrence Expected to be Offered Role of Katniss in The Hunger Games

We've been eagerly following the production news surrounding the upcoming film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' young adult thriller The Hunger Games. With the film scheduled to be released in just over a year, the focus recently has been on casting the leads, in particular that of series character Katniss Everdeen.

Last night Variety reported that Jennifer Lawrence will be offered the role, and is expected to sign on this coming week. Though Lawrence is a few years older than the character, we think she's an ideal choice, having proven in Winter's Bone that she can credibly play a teenager with outsized responsibilities.

The Hunger Games, the first of three books in the series (the other two are Catching Fire and Mockingjay), introduces Katniss as a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When her sister is chosen by lottery, Katniss steps up to go in her place.

Gary Ross will direct a screenplay adapted by Collins and Billy Ray.

Solve a Spine-Chilling Mystery in Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story, New from BFG

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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Welcome to a dark and spooky town where something that should not exist runs free; where a desperate wife will risk her beating heart to find her missing husband; and where a terrible secret lies buried behind an orphanage.

Through 12 main chapters, search for clues, solve puzzles, and unlock new areas as you explore 50 spine-chilling locations, play stimulating mini-games and locate hidden objects.

For a more in-depth gaming experience, check out the Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story (Collector's Edition), full of exclusive extras not found in the standard version, including an integrated strategy guide, bonus gameplay in the form of a prequel chapter, deleted scenes, soundtrack, and more.

Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story (Standard Edition) may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (215.94 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!

The Cape Finale to be Posted Online Tonight at Midnight

A week or so ago we reported that the finale of NBC's crime drama The Cape would be shown online only. Now TV|Line is reporting that today is the day ... at Midnight ET on NBC.com. (We're guessing it will be available to watch for some time to come.)

The Cape premiered in January as a mid-season replacement, but never caught on with viewers. In early February, the network cut its order for the series from 13 to 10 episodes.

Here's what to expect from the season (and series) finale: "Police Chief Marty Voyt (Dorian Missick) lands behind bars, in the hands of ARK Corporation, fearing he may receive the same fate as Vince (David Lyons). Attempting to learn more about Vince’s disappearance, Dana (Jennifer Ferrin) takes on Marty’s case, and the impervious ARK Corporation, only to discover secrets of betrayal. The Cape’s double identity becomes blurred when Max (Keith David) and the carnival of crime attempt to protect Dana, Marty and his family."

Uncover a Mystery in the Amazon in Epic Adventures: Cursed Onboard, New from BFG

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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A mysterious adventure begins when you reach a derelict ship stranded in the middle of the Great Amazon jungle. The recently discovered ship set sail in the 1970s but it never reached its destination. There were no survivors and the fate of the whole crew still remains a mystery. With the help of the ghost of a little girl named Anna, you will search the ship in detail and uncover a story that is astonishing as well as tragic. Dive into this incredible hidden object adventure game.

See also the previous game in this series, Epic Adventures: La Jangada.

Epic Adventures: Cursed Onboard may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (400.40 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!

Mystery Bestsellers for March 11, 2011

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending March 11th, 2011 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

For the first time in nearly a year, we have a new title atop the bestseller list: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. Its move to the top was by the slimmest of margins, but it still wins bragging rights for the week. Two other titles move from just off the list into the top 15.

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Moving from 16th position to the 8th spot is The Night Season, the fourth thriller to feature Portland homicide detective Archie Sheridan by Chelsea Cain.

With the Beauty Killer Gretchen Lowell locked away behind bars once again, Archie Sheridan — a Portland police detective and nearly one of her victims — can finally rest a little easier. Meanwhile, the rest of the city of Portland is in crisis. Heavy rains have flooded the Willamette River, and several people have drowned in the quickly rising waters. Or at least that’s what they thought until the medical examiner discovers that the latest victim didn’t drown: She was poisoned before she went into the water. Soon after, three of those drownings are also proven to be murders. Portland has a new serial killer on its hands, and Archie and his task force have a new case.

Reporter Susan Ward is chasing this story of a new serial killer with gusto, but she’s also got another lead to follow for an entirely separate mystery: The flooding has unearthed a skeleton, a man who might have died more than sixty years ago, the last time Portland flooded this badly, when the water washed away an entire neighborhood and killed at least fifteen people.

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Aimée Leduc is back in this week's 13th top bestseller, Murder in Passy, the 11th mystery in this series by Cara Black.

The village-like neighborhood of Passy, home to many of Paris’s wealthiest residents, is the last place one would expect a murder. But when Aimée Leduc’s godfather, Morbier, a police commissaire, asks her to check on his girlfriend at her home there, that’s exactly what Aimée finds.

Xavierre, a haut bourgeois matron of Basque origin, is strangled in her garden while Aimée waits inside. Circumstantial evidence makes Morbier the prime suspect, and to vindicate him, Aimée must identify the real killer. Her investigation leads her to police corruption; the radical Basque terrorist group, ETA; and a kidnapped Spanish princess.

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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.

ABC Series Castle to Pay Tribute to Stephen J. Cannell in Upcoming Episode

TV|Line is reporting that the ABC series Castle will pay tribute to the late Stephen J. Cannell on its April 11th episode.

Cannell, who died last fall, appeared on three episodes of the series as one of Richard Castle's poker playing buddies -- all of whom, like Castle, are crime novelists.

In the upcoming episode, Castle will be joined by Michael Connelly (making his third appearance) and Dennis Lehane (his first) for a night of cards when they make reference to Cannell's passing.

New Poster for HBO's Game of Thrones

HBO has released a new poster for its upcoming fantasy/adventure series Game of Thrones, adapted from the novel The Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. Click on the image for a larger version.

Set in Westeros where "summers span decades and winters can last a lifetime," Game of Thrones chronicles the violent dynastic struggles among noble families for control of the Iron Throne.

The premiere of this 10-episode series airs Sunday, April 17th, on HBO.

Stephen King Announces The Wind Through the Keyhole, a New Book in The Dark Tower Series

With the "The Dark Tower" series of fantasy thrillers in the news -- Ron Howard and company are planning a multi-platform adaptation of the novels -- it is worth noting that author Stephen King announced today a new entry in the series, The Wind Through the Keyhole, chronologically set between the fourth and fifth books.

"It won’t tell you much that’s new about Roland and his friends," says King, "but there’s a lot none of us knew about Mid-World, both past and present."

The first book in the series, The Gunslinger, was published in 1982 with the series concluding (or so everyone thought) in 2004 with the seventh, The Dark Tower.

The Wind Through the Keyhole is expected to be published in 2012.

Chelsea Cain's Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell Thrillers Optioned

This is actually fairly old news from several weeks ago (but we're just learning of it today). January Jones (Mad Men) has optioned the first three books in the Archie Sheriden series of thrillers by Chelsea Cain, with the expectation of playing serial killer Gretchen Lowell.

The characters were introduced in Heartsick, originally published in 2007. The fourth book in the series, The Night Season, was published earlier this month.

In the series debut, Portland detective Archie Sheridan has spent years tracking Gretchen Lowell, a beautiful serial killer. In the end she was the one who caught him, but after torturing him for days she mysteriously let him go and turned herself in. Since then the she has been locked up, leaving Archie damaged but alive in a prison of another kind—addicted to pain pills, unable to return to his old life, powerless to get those ten horrific days or Gretchen off his mind.

When another killer begins snatching teenage girls off the streets, Archie has to pull himself together to head up a new task force, but even then he can’t stop him without getting information from Gretchen—an encounter that may destroy him.

With Susan Ward, a hungry young newspaper reporter, profiling Archie and his team, Archie, the killer, and Gretchen enter into a dark and deadly game.

You can read the first chapter(s) of Heartsick below. Use the Aa settings button to adjust text size, line spacing, and word density.