Harlequin Intrigue Titles for August 2011

eHarlequin.com has released the list of August 2011 titles in their Intrigue, breathtaking romantic suspense series. Get these edge-of-your-seat reads today with characters who conquer everything from kidnappings to murder mysteries, only to find themselves irresistibly drawn to one another!

For more information about the book from eHarlequin.com, click on the title or cover; other purchase options (Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble, and The Book Depository) are also provided.

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Dakota Marshal by Jenna Ryan

He brought danger to her doorstep …

Shot and bleeding, cowboy cop turned U.S. Marshal Gabriel McBride had nowhere to go, no one else he trusted except the very woman who wanted nothing to do with him. Tracking a fugitive, he'd been ambushed by a hit man. A hit man he'd unwittingly brought straight to Alessandra Norris. It had been the risks he'd taken, the secrets he'd kept, that had broken them apart. And now Alessandra was right in the thick of them, fleeing into the Black Hills with a rifle scope aimed at her back and a rogue marshal at her side. But the gravest danger came from McBride himself—a man whom she'd never stopped loving …

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Locked and Loaded by HelenKay Dimon

Nothing was as it seemed … Not even the protection Maddie Timmons was promised when she'd entered the Witness Security Program. One of her handlers was missing, the other had burned her, and now Maddie was at risk.

All that stood between her and certain death was one sexy stranger.

Deep undercover, Recovery Project agent Adam Wright vowed to keep Maddie safe from the leak at WitSec. But Adam wasn't prepared for the confident woman he'd rescued, the sensuous lover who got under his skin. He could do nothing about her past being taken away, but he'd do anything to secure her future … even if it meant forsaking his own …

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Stampeded by B. J. Daniels

To escape a killer, she must accept the Chisholm brand of protection …

Alexa Cross has spent a lifetime outrunning the "curse" of her bloodline. Now she must confront her past to save her family from an extraordinary force of evil. Haunted or not, the eerie Wellington Manor radiates danger and Alexa has nowhere to run except to her strongest—and most irresistible—ally.

Ending the threat against Alexa is Marshall Chisholm's top priority. He'll stop at nothing to erase her fear … and replace it with white-hot desire. But the closer they get, the more mysterious she becomes. And if they stand a chance of uniting to unlock a killer's secrets, Marshall will have to first unlock Alexa's …

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Sovereign Sheriff by Cassie Miles

As sheriff, the law guided his decisions.

As a man protecting a princess, his libido seemed to be in control …

Sheriff Jake Wolf took pride in two things: his Native American heritage and his adherence to the law. So when Princess Saida Khalid came to him, desperate for answers to an unsolved case, Jake stuck to the facts—and tried not to get distracted by what he wanted. But ignoring Saida's gorgeous features and whip-smart mind were nearly impossible, especially when she claimed he was the only person who could keep her safe. Jake had every intention of maintaining a professional distance…even though he ached to hold her and promise everything would be okay. But remaining alert had to be his priority. And one touch would never be enough.

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Flashback by Gayle Wilson

A wounded warrior was facing the toughest mission of his life …

The battlefield had taught Jake Underwood just how much could be lost in a single moment. So when he returned home, scarred and grieving for those he'd left behind, the last thing he needed was to be responsible for another person's life. Especially that of a missing little girl. But one look in police chief Eden Reddick's tear-filled eyes and Jake couldn't help but feel her frustration … and share her pain. Jake knew Eden was grateful for whatever investigative skills he could offer—until he uncovered a connection to her mysterious past. Now, as a heartbreaking case turned even more personal when Eden became a target, Jake realized that all he'd lost in his past was nothing compared with just how much he had to lose now …

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Protecting the Pregnant Witness by Julie Miller

A ruthless killer … an expectant mother … one determined cop.

Rafe Delgado had been there for Josie Nichols her entire life. So when he turned to her one night, emotionally drained thanks to a heartbreaking case, her longtime crush on the brooding cop reached a whole new level. But afterward, Rafe went back to being untouchable and Josie didn't know how to break through his shell … even to tell him she was pregnant.

Everything Rafe did was by the book and so his moment of weakness could never be repeated. He didn't deserve someone like Josie … even if it was a daily struggle to keep his hands off her. But learning she could ID a cold-blooded killer changed everything. Now she was in his protective custody and caring about her only made his job harder. And learning about his unborn child made it nearly impossible.

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Innocent Monster by Reed Farrel Coleman is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Innocent Monster by Reed Farrel Coleman as today's free mystery ebook. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically only until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so we urge you to download it while it is still available for free.

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Innocent Monster by Reed Farrel Coleman
A Moe Prager Mystery (6th in series)
Tyrus Books

About Innocent Monster (from the publisher): Seven years have passed since the brutal murder that tore Moe Prager’s family apart and six years since Moe brushed the dust off his PI license. But when his estranged daughter Sarah comes to him with a request he cannot refuse, Moe takes a deep breath and plunges back into the icy, opaque waters of secrets and lies. Sashi Bluntstone, an eleven-year-old art prodigy and daughter of Sarah’s dearest childhood friend, has been abducted. Three weeks into the investigation, the cops have gotten nowhere and the parents have gotten desperate. Desperation, the door through which Moe Prager always enters, swings wide open. Just as in Sashi’s paintings, there’s much more to the case than one can see at a glance.

With the help of an ex-football star, Moe stumbles around the fringes of the New York art scene, trying to get a handle on where the art stops and the commerce begins. Much to Moe’s surprise and disgust, he discovers that Sashi is, on the one hand, revered as a cash cow and, on the other, reviled as a fraud and a joke. Suspects abound beyond the usual predators and pedophiles, for it is those closest to Sashi in life that have the most to gain from her death. Cruel ironies lurk around every corner, beneath every painting, and behind every door. Almost nothing is what it seems.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

OMN Welcomes Elise Warner, Author of the Augusta Weidenmaier Mysteries

Omnimystery News is pleased to welcome Elise Warner, author of Scene Stealer (Carina Press, June 2010 eBook), the first mystery in the Augusta Weidenmaier series.

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Photo provided courtesy of
Elise Warner

I'm Elise Warner, the author of Scene Stealer and I'd like to introduce you to a few of my favorite people. The men and women who live in the pages of my cozy mystery have taken over but I'm still enormously fond of them.

First, I'd like you to meet Miss Augusta Weidenmaier, a retired schoolteacher—she taught English classes and tends to correct everyone's mistakes. An indomitable woman, she understands children and is determined to find Kevin Corcoran. Kevin is the kidnapped nine-year-old spokesperson for the Cowboy Bob's Big, Bad Burger commercials. Kevin's agent is Abner T. Bean—Abner is a sweet man, too sweet to be an agent.

Then, there's my villain. I've become rather fond of my villain. His name is Lawrence Dunn and he is a faded Shakespearean actor who believes he is America's answer to Laurence Olivier.

I mustn't forget Lieutenant Brown, the police officer in charge of this fast food caper who not only has to find Kevin and his kidnapper, he has to put up with Miss Weidenmaier's interference. The action takes place in New York City from Greenwich Village and off, off, very off Broadway to Lincoln Center and a concert by the Philharmonic. Central Park, where a motion picture is being filmed, to a television studio where a talk show host named Norman Bottoms will say anything to reach an audience that's bigger than Letterman's, Leno's or Oprah's.

I hope you'll enjoy reading Scene Stealer as much as I enjoyed writing it with the help of my associates—Miss Weidenmaier, Kevin Corcoran, Lieutenant Brown, Lawrence Dunn and their friends and adversaries.

Before becoming enthused about writing, I worked in the theatre. I began writing plays—one titled Small Time won the Guinny presented by Theatre Guinevere. Short stories and articles followed, second prize in an American Kennel Club competition (a short story based on my poodle Jackie) and now my cozy mystery—published as an eBook by Carina Press.

To learn more about Scene Stealer and me, please visit me online at EliseWarner.com, or find me on my blog, Facebook, or Twitter. A complimentary eBook copy of Scene Stealer will be given to the person who submits the most interesting comment.

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About Scene Stealer: "For a moment our eyes met; his were frightened, seeking help. Was it my imagination gone wild? No. After all those years of teaching elementary school, I knew this child was afraid."

After a chance encounter on the subway, Miss Augusta Weidenmaier, a retired schoolteacher living in New York's Greenwich Village, is determined to help the police in the search for missing nine-year-old child actor Kevin Corcoran. Never mind that she has no training in law enforcement—she spent decades teaching. She knows when someone is lying.

Once set upon a course of action, the indomitable Miss Weidenmaier cannot be swayed—or intimidated. Facing down megalomaniacal business executives, stuck-up celebrities, pushy stage mothers and a rabble-rousing talk show host, Miss Weidenmaier will stop at nothing—not even the disapproval of one Lieutenant Brown of the NYPD, who does not take kindly to amateur sleuthing—to bring young Kevin home.

Scene Stealer is available popular eBook formats from Amazon.com (Kindle edition), Barnes&Noble (Nook Book edition), Kobo.com, or directly from Carina Press.

Encore to Air Mini-Series Adaptation of The Take by Martina Cole

In news from about a week ago (hat tip to In Reference to Murder for alerting us to it), Encore will air the US premiere of the mini-series adaptation of Martina Cole's 2005 crime novel The Take this fall. (The book was never published in the US.)

Originally broadcast on Sky 1 in 2009, The Take is a gripping family drama set in the criminal underworld spanning 10 years from the height of Thatcherism to the birth of New Labour.

In the book (and mini-series), Freddie Jackson is just out of prison. He's done his time, made the right connections and now he's ready to use them. His wife Jackie dreams of having her husband home but she's forgotten the rows and the girls Freddie can't leave alone. His younger cousin, Jimmy, dreams of making a name for himself on Freddie's coattails.

At first Freddie gets everything he ever wanted and Jimmy is taken along for the ride: a growing crime empire that gives them all the respect and money they've hungered for. But behind it all sits Ozzy — the legendary criminal godfather who manipulates Freddie and Jimmy's fates from behind the bars of his prison cell.

Bitter, resentful and increasingly unstable, Jackie sees her life crumble while her little sister Maggie's star rises. In love with Freddie's cousin Jimmy, Maggie is determined not to end up like her sister.

Freddie and Jackie watch Jimmy and Maggie achieve all the dreams that they themselves failed to realise: love, family, stability and respect.

Jealous resentment and an inability to control himself force Freddie to put both the business and family at risk. Torn between being loyal to a cousin he loves and being true to his own destiny, Jimmy is forced to decide between protecting Freddie or the life he has built with Maggie.

For those who can't wait to watch it on Encore, The Take was released on DVD last year and is also available through Netflix.

(Source: Encore press release)

Review: Eyes Wide Open by Andrew Gross

Eyes Wide Open by Andrew Gross. Non-series. William Morrow Hardcover, June 2011.

This strongly written, deftly plotted novel of suspense about the lives of an extended family and the misfortune that brings them together has a personal connection to the author, who based some of the characters in part on members of his own family, in particular his nephew Alex, who, like the character from the book, died in a fall from a cliff in California.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Eyes Wide Open by Andrew Gross.

Purchase Options:

Mystery and Suspense Films, New This Week on DVD (110719)

Checking through our list of films currently scheduled for release this week on DVD and/or Blu-ray disc, shown below are those that fall into the mystery, suspense, thriller and adventure categories.

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Purchase/Rental Options

Limitless (2011)

Aspiring author Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) is suffering from chronic writer's block, but his life changes instantly when an old friend introduces him to NZT, a revolutionary new pharmaceutical that allows him to tap his full potential. With every synapse crackling, Eddie can recall everything he has ever read, seen or heard, learn any language in a day, comprehend complex equations and beguile anyone he meets — as long as he keeps taking the untested drug. Soon Eddie takes Wall Street by storm, parlaying a small stake into millions.

His accomplishments catch the eye of mega-mogul Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro), who invites him to help broker the largest merger in corporate history. But they also bring Eddie to the attention of people willing to do anything to get their hands on his stash of NZT. With his life in jeopardy and the drug's brutal side effects taking their toll, Eddie dodges mysterious stalkers, a vicious gangster and an intense police investigation as he attempts to hang on to his dwindling supply long enough to outwit his enemies. (PG-13; 105 minutes)

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Purchase/Rental Options

House of the Rising Sun (2011)

Ray (Dave Bautista), an ex-cop, is starting a new life looking to stay out of trouble. One evening, on Ray's watch, the nightclub he works for is robbed and the owner's son is shot dead. As his criminal past is exposed, Ray hunts for the person responsible for this crime in an effort to clear his own name. Ray must get to the bottom of this as both the mob and cops start to close in on him as their target suspect. (R; 90 minutes)

Sherlock Holmes: The House of Silk Cover Released

Earlier this year Mulholland Books announced that it would be publishing the first Sherlock Holmes novel authorized by the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle, to be written by Anthony Horowitz.

Today, the publisher released the elegant book cover, the calligraphic title — The House of Silk — in matte gold on a rich blue silk background.

The plot is still a bit of a mystery, as it were, but is known to take place in 1890, a year after the death of Sherlock Holmes. Dr. Watson reveals that he waited so long to write the tale as "[i]t is no exaggeration to suggest it could tear apart the very fabric of society ..."

The book is scheduled to hit bookstores on November 1st.

(Source: Mulholland Books)

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for July 18, 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 D E H M N O S W

This 2011 thriller by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon is the fourth in the Hidden Cities series (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.

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!