Provincetown Follies, Bangkok Blues by Randall Peffer is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Provincetown Follies, Bangkok Blues by Randall Peffer 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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Provincetown Follies, Bangkok Blues by Randall Peffer
A Cape Islands Mystery
Tyrus Books

This first in a series that currently numbers five introduces Michael DeCastro, a Massachusetts public defender on Cape Cod.

About Provincetown Follies, Bangkok Blues (from the publisher): Tuki Aparecio did not kill her lover. She did not burn down the Painted Lady — at least, not with fire. Tuki lit up the stage nightly, with her hair in braids and her glorious costumes; glittering, smoldering, singing her heart out for an audience who loved her. She brought the house down with her performances. But she's innocent of murder, innocent of arson.

How can Michael DeCastro possibly hope to defend this beautiful drag queen, who brings with her a whole pack of nasty little secrets, straight from Bangkok's notorious tenderloin district? She speaks in aphorisms, the wisdom of the Buddha combined with the lyrics of Whitney Houston. She is fascinating. And Michael can't let her go to jail.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Review: Murder Most Persuasive by Tracy Kiely

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Murder Most Persuasive by Tracy Kiely.

Case Histories Premieres Sunday, October 16th on Masterpiece Mystery!

The first of three episodes of Case Histories airs tomorrow, Sunday October 16th, on PBS's Masterpiece Mystery! Check your local listings for time(s). Episodes 2 and 3 will air, respectively, on the following two Sundays. The series was recently honored with a TV Dagger for best crime drama at this year's Crime Thriller Awards.

Based on a character created by crime novelist Kate Atkinson, the series stars Jason Isaacs as private investigator Jackson Brodie. Set in brooding, beautiful Edinburgh, the crimes are a mix of cold cases and fresh bloodshed that only a maverick ex-cop like Brodie can solve.

In the opening episode titled "Case Histories", which gives the series its title and is adapted from the first book in the series, Jackson takes on the cold case of a girl who went missing thirty years earlier. He is also talked into helping a grieving father find the man who murdered his daughter, and tracking down the niece of a mysterious seductress.

This episode will be available to watch online from October 17th through November 29th, 2011. The DVD for the series is released on November 8th.

Dove Season by Johnny Shaw is Today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Dove Season by Johnny Shaw as today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal. The deal price of $1.99 is valid only for today, Saturday, October 15, 2011.

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Dove Season by Johnny Shaw
A Jimmy Veeder Mystery
AmazonEncore

The author subtitles this first in a presumed series "A Jimmy Veeder Fiasco".

About Dove Season (from the publisher): Twelve years have passed since Jimmy Veeder set foot in the Imperial Valley of southern California. The only person that could bring him back is his father, Jack, who is dying of cancer. Jimmy is prepared to spend Jack’s final days joking and reminiscing, but the old man has other plans. He needs Jimmy to cross the border into Mexico and find a prostitute named Yolanda. It’s a strange final request to be sure, but Jimmy’s not one to argue with a dying man. With his childhood buddy Bobby Maves in tow, he heads south, looking for Yolanda among the seedy bars and neighborhoods along the Calexico/Mexicali border.

Their search leads them to Tomás Morales, a rising star in the Mexican underworld. While dangerous to most, his childhood friendship with Jimmy brings out his loyalty and spurs him to help. But just when Jimmy thinks his quest has ended, an unexpected murder sucks him further into the violence and danger of Mexicali. In his fight for survival and search for truth, what he uncovers calls into question everything he thought he knew about his father—and will determine just what kind of man he himself truly is.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Kindle Daily Deal 10/15/2011 Download Link.

Telemystery: TNT Cancels Memphis Beat

Over on the cable networks, TNT has elected not to renew Memphis Beat for a third season … which surprises us just a bit, as we thought the ratings were decent, if not stellar.

"The network thanks everyone involved in the production of Memphis Beat for their work on the series, including the great cast and crew" was pretty much all TNT had to say on the subject.

Jason Lee stars as quirky Memphis police detective Dwight Hendricks in the series, with the always excellent Alfre Woodard as his by-the-book boss Tanya Rice.

Telemystery: ABC Cancels Charlie's Angels

ABC has canceled its reimagining of Charlie's Angels. We can't say we're sorry, as we never saw a single episode of the series this season. Once Robert Wagner bailed on it (as the voice of Charlie), we lost whatever little interest we had in it to start with.

Eight episodes (of the original 13 ordered) have been produced and four have aired to date. ABC has indicated that the remaining episodes will air at some point, but not when.

The CWA Announces the 2012 Debut Dagger Competition

The Crime Writers' Association has announced that the 2012 Debut Dagger Competition will be open from October 22nd, 2011 through January 21st, 2012.

The Debut Dagger is open to anyone who has not yet had a novel published commercially. All short-listed entrants will receive a generous selection of crime novels and professional assessments of their entries. The first prize is £700 plus two tickets to the CWA Awards, which will be held in July 2012.

Entrants are required to submit the first 3000 words of their crime-themed novel plus a 500-1000 word synopsis of the rest of the novel. The short-listed entries are circulated to all the editors and agents who are members of the Association, and also to an increasing number who contact the CWA asking to see the list. Since its inauguration, over two dozen winners and short-listed authors have obtained publishing contracts.

For more information, including the application form, visit the Debut Dagger page on the CWA website.

New UK Trailer for The Woman in Black

Last August we posted the first US trailer for the supernatural thriller The Woman in Black, adapted from the 1983 Gothic novel by Susan Hill.

Now a UK trailer is available and, while not as creepy as its US cousin, it is still decidedly chilling. Watch it below.

The Woman in Black stars Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps, a young lawyer who is forced to leave his young son and travel to a remote village to attend to the affairs of the recently deceased owner of Eel Marsh House. Working alone in the mansion, Kipps begins to uncover the town's tragic and tortured secrets and fears escalate when he discovers that local children have been dying under msyterious circumstances. When those closest to him become threatened by the vengeful woman in black, Kipps must find a way to break the cycle of terror.

The film is scheduled to be in US theaters on February 3rd, 2012.

Nominees for the 2011 CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award Announced

The nominees for the 2011 CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award have been announced by the Crime Writers' Association. This annual award is given to the best crime novel set at least 35 years prior to the current year, and is sponsored in part by the Estate of Ellis Peters, who wrote many historical crime novels including the popular Cadfael series.

The winner will be announced on November 30th, 2011 at the Athenaeum in London.

• Prince by Rory Clements (John Murray)
• The Red Coffin by Sam Eastland (Faber & Faber)
• The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris (Corvus)
• The Somme Stations by Andrew Martin (Faber & Faber)
• The Cleansing Flames by R. N. Morris (Faber & Faber)
• Island of Bones by Imogen Robertson (Headline)

Mystery Bestsellers for the Week Ending October 14th, 2011

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending October 14th, 2011 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

Repeating as number one this week is the latest Jack Reacher thriller, The Affair by Lee Child. One new title debuts this week.

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Moving up strongly from just off the list last week to number 4 this week is the 5th Virgil Flowers mystery, Shock Wave by John Sandford.

The superstore chain PyeMart has its sights set on a Minnesota river town, but two very angry groups want to stop it: local merchants, fearing for their businesses, and environmentalists, predicting ecological disaster. The protests don't seem to be slowing the project, though, until someone decides to take matters into his own hands.

The first bomb goes off on the top floor of PyeMart's headquarters. The second one explodes at the construction site itself. The blasts are meant to inflict maximum damage-and they do. Who's behind the bombs, and how far will they go? It's Virgil Flowers's job to find out … before more people get killed.

Purchase Options:

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For more mystery books news, 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.

New Poster for Second Season of Sherlock

BBC has released a new poster for the second season of Sherlock; click on the image (right) for a larger version.

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as his loyal friend Dr. John Watson in this contemporary update based on a character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The second season will feature three episodes adapted from — or maybe inspired by — two of the original short stories ("A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Final Problem") and one of the four novels (The Hound of the Baskervilles) to feature Holmes.

As far as we know, the second season has not yet been scheduled in the UK, though Criminal Element is reporting that it will air in the US next May as the opening episodes of the 2012 season of PBS's Masterpiece Mystery!

Telemystery: ABC Orders Full Season of Revenge

ABC announced today that the network has picked up a full season of its new drama Revenge — a show we've really taken to so far and apparently we're not alone, as it has received solid ratings.

Inspired by the storyline of The Count of Monte Cristo, Emily Vancamp stars as Emily Thorne, who as a young child saw her father taken away by the police and later wrongly convicted of a long list of felonies, based on false evidence given by their neighbors and his co-workers. Fast forward to the present, where Emily, now independently wealthy, has vowed revenge on those who were involved.

Revenge currently airs on Wednesdays at 10 PM (ET/PT).

The Murder Mystery Texas Killing Fields Opens in Theaters Friday, October 14, 2011

The murder mystery Texas Killing Fields opens in limited release this Friday, October 14th, 2011 … but we couldn't find any schedule of what cities it is playing in. We suspect this will likely be a direct to cable or DVD release for most of us. (Anchor Bay, a unit of Starz Media, is distributing the film, so it's most likely the former before the latter.)

Inspired by true events, this tense and haunting thriller follows Detective Souder (Sam Worthington), a homicide detective in a small Texan town, and his partner, transplanted New York City cop Detective Heigh (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) as they track a sadistic serial killer dumping his victims’ mutilated bodies in a nearby marsh locals call "The Killing Fields." Though the swampland crime scenes are outside their jurisdiction, Detective Heigh is unable to turn his back on solving the gruesome murders. Despite his partner’s warnings, he sets out to investigate the crimes. Before long, the killer changes the game and begins hunting the detectives, teasing them with possible clues at the crime scenes while always remaining one step ahead. When familiar local girl Anne (Chloë Grace Moretz) goes missing, the detectives find themselves racing against time to catch the killer and save the young girl’s life.

Texas Killing Fields, which also goes by the pre-production and international titles of The Fields and The Dark Fields, is directed by Ami Canaan Mann from an original screenplay by Don Ferrarone.

Review: Half-Past Dawn by Richard Doetsch

Half-Past Dawn by Richard Doetsch. Non-series. Atria Books Hardcover, September 2011.

This tautly-written, suspense-filled novel incorporates several interwoven mysteries. Featuring creatively drawn characters and a compelling storyline, this thriller starts quickly, keeps up the pace, and captures the reader's interest from first page to last.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Half-Past Dawn by Richard Doetsch.

Download Nancy Grace's The Eleventh Victim for just $2.99, Limited Time Only

Hyperion is celebrating their 20th anniversary with 20 ebooks for $2.99, now through October 24th, 2011. (You can see the entire — mostly non-fiction — list here.)

Of the 20 listed, only one is a crime novel, Nancy Grace's 2009 thriller The Eleventh Victim, introducing television legal analyst Hailey Dean, who moves from Atlanta to Manhattan after her fiancé is murdered, and is forced to match wits not only against a copycat killer, but the famed NYPD.

The ebook is widely available online, but here are some popular sites to purchase it, some of which are currently listing the book for slightly less than the suggested $2.99: Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook, iTunes, and Kobo Books. Remember, this special price is only available through October 24th, 2011.