Firsts on the 1st: New Series Characters Being Introduced in November 2011 Mysteries

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books recently updated its list of November 2011 hardcover mysteries as well as shelved new November paperbacks on The Mystery Bookshelf.

In this series of monthly posts, which we call Firsts on the 1st, we're introducing readers to new series characters who will make their mysterious American debut in print during November. (Purchase options include Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble, and the iTunes iBookstore, which are indicated by icons under the cover image.)

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Title: National Security
Author: Marc Cameron
Series Character: Jericho Quinn
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: Jericho Quinn is an Air Force OSI agent.

His first case: They can strike anytime, anywhere. A public landmark. A suburban shopping mall. And now, the human body itself. Three Middle Eastern terrorists have been injected with a biological weapon, human time bombs unleashed on American soil. They are prepared to die. To spread their disease. To annihilate millions. If America hopes to fight this enemy from within, we need a new kind of weapon.

Meet Special Agent Jericho Quinn. Air Force veteran. Champion boxer. Trained assassin. Hand-picked for a new global task force that, officially, does not exist, Quinn answers only to the Director of National Intelligence and the U.S. President himself. His methods are as simple, and as brutal, as his codename: The Hammer.

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Title: Death, Taxes, and a French Manicure
Author: Diane Kelly
Series Character: Tara Holloway
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: CPA Tara Holloway is a special agent with the Treasury’s Criminal Investigations Division.

Her first case: Tax cheats, beware: The Treasury’s CID has a new special agent on its payroll. A recovering tomboy with a head for numbers, Tara’s fast becoming the Annie Oakley of the IRS—kicking ass, taking social security numbers, and keeping the world safe for honest taxpayers. Or else.

Tara’s latest mission finds her in hot pursuit of ice-cream vendor Joseph “Joe Cool” Cullen. Along with frozen treats he’s selling narcotics—and failing to report his ill-gotten gains on his tax returns. Over Tara’s dead body. Then there’s Michael Gryder, who appears to be operating a Ponzi scheme … with banker Stan Shelton … whose lake house is being landscaped by Brett Ellington … who happens to be dating Tara. If following that money trail isn’t tough enough, now Tara must face a new conundrum: Should she invest her trust in Brett—or put him behind bars? New love always comes at a cost but justice? Priceless.

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Title: Acquainted With the Night
Author: Piper Maitland
Series Character: The Night Series
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the series: The pages of history are written in the blood of the undead …

London tour guide Caroline Clifford has never believe in vampires- until her uncle is brutally murdered at a Bulgarian archaeological site, and a vampire hunter who corresponded with him seeks her out.

Strange anagrams on her uncle's passport lead them to a cliff-top monastery in Greece, where a shattering revelation connects a relic Caro inherited to an age-old text on immortality-and an enigmatic prophecy that pits the forces of darkness and light in a showdown that could destroy all they know …

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Title: Assassin of Secrets
Author: Q. R. Markham
Series Character: Jonathan Chase
Format: Trade Paperback

What we know about the character: Jonathan Chase is the CIA's top field agent.

His first case: Chase is sworn to protect and serve the United States at all costs. But after a brutal period of captivity during the Korean War, Chase developed an agenda of his own: to use his mastery of war to create peace.

His new target: the Zero Directorate, a cabal of rogue assassins who have embarked on a campaign to systematically interrogate and kill seasoned secret agents from across the globe.

But the Directorate has set an elaborate trap, and for Chase the whole mission involves an inescapable paradox. As the world's preeminent operative, the closer he gets to the cabal, the closer the cabal gets to their primary target.

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Title: Well-Offed in Vermont
Author: Amy Patricia Meade
Series Characters: Stella and Nick Thornton Buckley
Format: Trade Paperback

What we know about the characters: Stella and Nick Thornton Buckley are Manhattanites, who have moved to Vermont.

Their first case: In bucolic small-town Vermont, Stella feels out of her element—and not just because she's fresh from Manhattan. Mere hours after moving to maple syrup country, she and her husband, Nick, find a dead man, Allen Weston, in their well. The police investigation forces the couple out of their lovely farmhouse and—since the motels are packed with leafpeepers—into a less than luxurius deer camp. Instead of mourning the loss of electricity and running water, Stella and Nick drive their Smart Car all over the Vermont hamlet to question the quirky locals about Weston, a shrewd businessman who rubbed a lot of folks the wrong way.

Stella and Nick may never shed their flatlander reputation, but they just might be able to make a few friends and help Sheriff Mills solve a murder.

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Title: Trueman Bradley: Aspie Detective
Author: Alexei Maxim Russell
Series Character: Trueman Bradley
Format: Trade Paperback

What we know about the character: Trueman Bradley is a private investigator with Asperger's Syndrome.

His first case: Trueman Bradley is a genius detective with a difference: he has Asperger's Syndrome (AS). Trueman leaves his hometown of Heartville, Illinois, and arrives in New York City, hoping to fulfil his dream of becoming a private detective, like his comic book heroes. He is soon told that a guy with AS could not possibly succeed as a detective. Undeterred, Trueman uses his exceptional mathematical skills to invent a crime-fighting equation, and with the help of his new friends and some amazing inventions, sets out to test his skills against the criminal world of New York. He is determined to show the police, his friends, and himself, that a guy with AS can become as good a detective as anyone else, maybe, even, one of the best.

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Title: Who Do, Voodoo?
Author: Rochelle Staab
Series Characters: Liz Cooper and Nick Garfield
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the characters: Liz Cooper is a pragmatic Los Angeles psychologist; Nick Garfield, PhD is a professor of religious philosophy.

Their first case: Liz doesn't believe in ghosts. But when her best friend finds a tarot card tacked to her front door — and is then accused of murder — Liz will have to find a way to embrace the occult if she wants to outwit the real killer …

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For a list of more hardcover mysteries scheduled for publication during November, please visit our New Mysteries home page. If you're interested in new paperbacks, visit The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a library of new mysteries, also updated with November 2011 releases. See also our regularly updated eBook site for new mysteries, suspense novels and thrillers, MysterEbooks.com.

Please also 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.

Harlequin Mira Mystery and Suspense Titles for November 2011

eHarlequin.com has released the list of November 2011 titles for their Mira imprint, the brightest stars in women's fiction. From all titles available, we've only listed those that are mystery, thriller, or suspense on this page.

For more information about the book from eHarlequin.com, click on the title or cover; other purchase options (see icons below cover) are also provided.

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The Heart of a Killer by Jaci Burton
The Killer Series (1st in series)

Before the Special Forces hero has even unpacked his bags from twelve years of active duty, he's embroiled in murder—corpses bearing the brutal trademark he's seen only once before—on the worst night of his life.

The last time Detective Anna Pallino saw Dante Renaldi, they were in love. Now, he's part of the connection to a string of fresh homicides and a horrible assault Anna only survived thanks to him.

More than anything, Anna wants to trust Dante. But as the bodies and the coincidences stack up, Anna will have to decide, and fast: Is the man she owes her life to the very same one who wants her dead?

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In Close by Brenda Novak
The Bulletproof Trilogy (3rd in series)

Claire O'Toole's mother, Alana, went missing fifteen years ago. That was big news in Pineview, Montana, the kind of town where nothing much ever happens. Then, last year, Claire's husband, David, died in a freak accident—after launching his own investigation into Alana's disappearance.

Is Alana dead? Or did she simply abandon her husband and daughters? Claire is determined to find out—and her former boyfriend, Isaac Morgan, wants to help. Although their relationship didn't end well, he still has feelings for her. And yet it isn't until he starts to suspect David's death wasn't an accident that he's drawn back into her life.

Together, Claire and Isaac search for answers to the questions that have haunted Pineview all this time. But as they soon discover, someone's prepared to kill so those answers won't be found …

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Against the Storm by Kat Martin
The Raines of Wind Canyon (4th in series)

Redheads like Maggie O'Connell are nothing but trouble. But Trace Rawlins, a former army ranger turned private investigator, takes the case anyway. After all, he knows a thing or two about women.

Trace can sense that something is wrong—Maggie isn't telling him everything. If these menacing calls and messages are real, why won't the police help her? And if they aren't real, what is she hiding?

As Trace digs deeper to find the source of Maggie's threats, he discovers a secret that no one was meant to uncover. And the only puzzle left to be solved is whether the danger comes from an unknown stalker … or from the woman he's trying his hardest not to fall for.

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Anthony Horowitz's Ten Rules for Writing a Sherlock Holmes Novel

The first Sherlock Holmes story officially sanctioned by the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle is published today: The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. Also posted today on the publisher's website is a list of ten rules suggested by the author for writing a Sherlock Holmes novel.

"If you were to ask what has made Sherlock Holmes the most successful and best loved detective of all time," says Horowitz, "I would argue that it is not in fact the crimes or the mysteries. It seems to me that the appeal of the books has much more to do with character, the friendship of Holmes and Watson, the extraordinary and very rich world they inhabit and the genuine and often under-rated excellence of Conan Doyle's writing, a touch melodramatic at times but still very much in the tradition of gothic romance."

Most of the rules have been broken time and again by other writers as they have expanded on that world, but we think Horowitz has succinctly defined what makes for a good Holmes story by simply listing the guidelines he used when writing The House of Silk. Of course our favorite is "the most important rule of all … When publicizing the book, never, ever be seen wearing a deerstalker hat or smoking a pipe."

Read Horowitz's most entertaining guest post on the Mulholland Books website.

Chili Con Corpses by J. B. Stanley is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Chili Con Corpses by J. B. Stanley 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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Chili Con Corpses by J. B. Stanley
A James Henry Mystery
Midnight Ink

This is the third entry in the Supper Club mystery series set in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. In our review of the book from 2008, we called it a "palatable concoction to satisfy the appetites of even the most discerning."

About Chili Con Corpses (from the publisher): Things are chugging merrily along for librarian James Henry. He has a closet filled with new clothes, a trimmer waistline, and a closer bond with his father. His only real problem is that his girlfriend Lucy's interest in him seems to have inexplicably cooled. When schoolteacher Lindy suggests the club members join a Mexican cooking class, James jumps at the idea. Over cervezas and black bean dip, the supper club members warm to their new adventure. The class heats up even more when a reporter and her friends, twin sisters with supermodel physiques, enroll. But when people start turning up dead, and the evidence points toward Lindy, things become hotter than a jalapeo. James, who was looking to add a little more spice to his life, gets much more than he bargained for.

Read our review of Chili Con Corpses by J. B. Stanley.

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.

B&N Free Nook Book Download Link.

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

Review: All Cry Chaos by Leonard Rosen

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: All Cry Chaos by Leonard Rosen.

University Morgue to be Named for One of Ten Crime Novelists

Ten crime novelists are competing for the right to have their name on a new morgue at the University of Dundee. It's part of campaign on the part of the university to raise £1 million to fund the center.

The participating authors are Val McDermid, Lee Child, Jeffery Deaver, Jeff Lindsay, Stuart MacBride, Tess Gerritsen, Kathy Reichs, Mark Billingham, Peter James, and Harlan Coben.

Everyone who donates to the Million For A Morgue campaign will get to vote for their favorite author or authors to determine who will have their name on the Thiel Centre of Excellence at the University of Dundee.

Every £1 donated is equal to one vote for your selected author. As of the date of this post, Val McDermid is currently leading the other candidates for this honor.

Visit MillionForAMorgue.com for more information and to donate to the campaign.

Warner Bros. Options Film Rights to Lew Archer Mysteries

Warner Bros. has optioned the film rights to the series of Lew Archer mysteries by Ross Macdonald. The eighth book in the series, The Galton Case, originally published in 1959, is the first to be adapted for an expected franchise for the studio.

Lew Archer is a private investigator in Southern California and was featured in some 17 novels and numerous short stories. Paul Newman played the character — renamed Lew Harper — in two films, both from Warner Bros.: Harper (1966) and The Drowning Pool (1976). The character was also featured in an NBC television series and made-for television movie, also for the same network. Peter Graves played Lew Archer in The Underground Man (1974), while Brian Keith played the private investigator in six episodes of Archer that aired in the spring of 1975.

In The Galton Case, almost twenty years have passed since Anthony Galton disappeared, along with a suspiciously streetwise bride and several thousand dollars of his family's fortune. Now Anthony's mother wants him back and has hired Lew Archer to find him. What turns up is a headless skeleton, a boy who claims to be Galton's son, and a con game whose stakes are so high that someone is still willing to kill for them.

(Source: Deadline.)

Games of Mystery and Suspense: James Noir's Hollywood Crimes for Nintendo 3DS

Be the main character of a mind-twisting murder mystery in James Noir's Hollywood Crimes for Nintendo 3DS.

You are immersed in a puzzle adventure in an interactive 3D world. Live the thrill of mastering tailor-made mind games as you solve over 150 intriguing puzzles to solve a deadly mystery.

The game takes place inside a TV game show, where you are a participant. As you play, you discover a series of murders and a diabolical criminal mastermind that is manipulating and defying you at every turn. Everyone on the set of the show is in danger — especially you. Solving the puzzles left by the killer at every crime scene is the only way to clear your name and to uncover his identity before it's too late.

James Noir's Hollywood Crimes is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, November 1st, 2011, for Nintendo 3DS. It is ESRB rated T for Teen.

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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!

Telemystery: Hart to Hart Movie and Pie in the Sky Complete Series, New This Week on DVD

Telemystery, your source for one of the most comprehensive listings of crime drama, amateur sleuth, private investigator, mystery and suspense television series, mini-series and made-for-television movies, now available on or coming soon to DVD or Blu-ray disc, is profiling one made-for-television movie based on characters from a crime drama and another complete series set being released this week.

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Almost 10 years after Hart to Hart ended its series run, Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers reunited as power couple and amateur sleuths Jonathan and Jennifer Hart in eight made-for-television movies.

The first five of these have already been released on DVD, and now the eighth and final one, Hart to Hart: Till Death Do Us Hart, is being released this week on DVD. It originally aired on ABC in August, 1996.

The remaining two movies, the sixth and seventh, are scheduled to come out in early December.

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Richard Griffiths stars as Detective Inspector Henry Crabbe, a police officer who also serves as the head chef at the titular restaurant owned by his wife Margaret (Maggie Steed), in Pie in the Sky.

We missed the first and last seasons, but have reviewed the middle three — see our reviews for Seasons Two, Three, and Four on Mr. E. Reviews — and found them to be delightfully entertaining.

Pie in the Sky: The Complete Collection is available on DVD and consists of all five seasons that originally aired on BBC from 1994 through 1997.

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

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for October 31, 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 B E I L M O R T

This city’s "Blues" are mentioned in the first Tess Monaghan mystery by Laura Lippman (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!

Games of Mystery and Suspense: Uncharted 3, Drake's Deception for PlayStation 3

A search for the fabled "Atlantis of the Sands" propels fortune hunter Nathan Drake on a trek into the heart of the Arabian Desert in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.

When the terrible secrets of this lost city are unearthed, Drake's quest descends into a desperate bid for survival that strains the limits of his endurance and forces him to confront his deepest fears.

This third game in the "Uncharted" franchise — the first two are Drake's Fortune and Among Thieves — continues the adventures of the swashbuckling treasure hunter Nathan Drake, this time as he finds himself in a new variety of challenging environments.

Sony is currently working on a film adaptation of the first game in the series, with the most recent news being the hiring of a new director/screenwriter.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, November 1st, 2011, exclusively for PlayStation 3. Also being released are Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Collector's Edition and the PlayStation 3 320GB "Uncharted 3" Bundle.

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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!

Mad Money by Linda L. Richards is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Mad Money by Linda L. Richards as today's second 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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Mad Money by Linda L. Richards
A Madeline Carter Mystery
Mira/Smashwords

This first in a series of three introduces former stock broker, current day trader Madeline Carter. Though we didn't read this book, we did enjoy the second two in the series, The Next Ex and Calculated Loss.

About Mad Money (from the publisher): When her best friend is killed in front of her at the New York City brokerage where they both work, Madeline Carter quits her job and aims for a safer life on the warm coast. But life has a way of interrupting the best laid plans and it isn’t long before Madeline’s quiet new life of day trading in the Malibu hills is interrupted by kidnapping, murder and a run-in with a corporate psychopath.

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):

Apple Free iBook Download Link (via iTunes).

Smashwords Free Book Download Link.

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