Amazon's Kindle Books: The Big Deal, Now Through December 3rd

The Amazon Kindle Daily Deal is being replaced this week with Kindle Books: The Big Deal, hundreds of books priced $3.99 or less.

There are only 31 (as of this morning) titles in the Mystery and Thrillers category, but it does present a diverse selection of crime novels.

The Big Deal continues through December 3rd, 2011.

TNT Extends Mystery Movie Night with Four New Crime Novel Adaptations

Just minutes after posting about the premiere of TNT's Mystery Movie Night, we learned that the cable network is ordering another made-for-television adaptation of a popular crime novel: Hornet's Nest by Patricia Cornwell.

Hornet's Nest, published in 1997 and the first of three mysteries in the series, introduces reporter Andy Brazil (to be played by Robbie Amell) and police chief Judy Hammer (Virginia Madsen). Set in Charlotte (NC), the story opens with everyone desperate to solve the latest crisis: a serial killer is specializing in out-of-town businessmen. Hammer and her deputy Virginia West (Sherry Stringfield) make the murder investigation their top priority. But West is less than pleased when Hammer pairs her up with Brazil, a cub reporter assigned to cover the police department.

In addition to the adaptation of Hornet's Nest, three other movies will be produced (though their titles were not released). No air dates were mentioned other than Spring 2012.

(Source: Press release.)

TNT's Mystery Movie Premieres Tuesday, November 29th

Tomorrow, Tuesday November 29th at 9 PM (ET/PT), TNT premieres Innocent, the first of its made-for-television movie adaptations of bestselling crime novels.

Based on the book of the same title by Scott Turow, Bill Pullman stars as Rusty Sabich — the character played by Harrison Ford in the film adaptation of Presumed Innocent, for which Innocent is considered a sequel — a judge charged with the murder of his wife, a situation that comes 20 years after he was cleared in the death of his mistress. During this latest trial, a secret affair from Rusty's recent past threatens to hamper his defense and fracture his relationship with his son.

Just a day later, on Wednesday November 30th at 9 PM (ET/PT), an adaptation of Ricochet by Sandra Brown airs. Two homicide detectives find their careers — and lives — on the line when they get caught up in a case of murder and betrayal in high-society Savannah.

The other movies in the series, and their air dates, are Hide by Lisa Gardner (Tuesday, December 6th); Silent Witness by Richard North Patterson (Wednesday, December 7th); Good Morning, Killer by April Smith (Tuesday, December 13th); and Deck the Halls by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark (Tuesday, December 20th).

Telemystery: Mission: Impossible '88, 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 series season being released this week.

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Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) reassembles the IMF team in Mission: Impossible ('88), a remake (or update, if you prefer) of the classic CBS series from two decades earlier.

The series originated from the writers' strike of the same year, which forced television producers to look to previously written material for scripts. For the most part it worked in this case, as the scenarios in which the IMF operated could easily be updated with modern gadgetry and a new setting. Once the strike was settled, the season finished off with new scripts written for Phelps and his team of operatives.

Mission: Impossible ('88): Season One is available on DVD and consists of 19 episodes that originally aired on ABC from Ocdtober 1988 through May 1989.

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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.

Mr. E. Reviews Limitless

Purchase/Rental Option(s)

A lengthy, rather boring and uneventful backstory mars this thriller-lite film, though the final half hour makes up for a lot of lapses in energy that precede it.

Read the full text of our review at Mr. E. Reviews Limitless.

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

Over 300 Kindle Mysteries Discounted for Cyber Monday

Today only, Monday November 28th, 2011, the Kindle Daily Deal is being replaced by the Cyber Monday Deal, with hundreds of Kindle editions priced up to 75% off.

The Mystery and Thrillers category contains several hundred titles itself — 304 when we checked — with the vast majority priced between $0.99 and $2.99.

Today would be a great day to stock up on crime novels for your Kindle to read during the long winter months ahead!

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for November 28, 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 E F H I J M N S

He is the author of the 2011 thriller Primacy (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!

CrimeFest Announces its 2012 Preliminary Program

CrimeFest 2012 announced this past week the preliminary program for its annual crime convention, which will be held May 24th through 27th in Bristol (UK) and will celebrate its fifth year of operation.

Their killer line-up of featured crime novelists is scheduled to include Lee Child, Jeffery Deaver, Sue Grafton, P. D. James and the writing team of Anders Roslund & Börge Hellström.

The convention regularly attracts top writers, readers, editors, publishers, agents and reviewers from around the world to celebrate the genre in an informal atmosphere. This year, the annual Crime Writing Workshop will be tutored by mystery author Janet Laurence, who will offer first-hand advice and tips for how to write a "killer" debut, with one-on-one feedback and entry into the CWA’s Debut Dagger Competition.

A special event this year will launch the novelization of the popular Danish crime drama Forbrydelsen, which aired as The Killing in the UK and was adapted under the same title in the US The event, in association with Pan Macmillan, will include an interview with David Hewson, responsible for the novelization, and surprise appearances from members of the show’s cast and production team.

For more information about CrimeFest 2012, visit their website at CrimeFest.com.

Select Mysterious Press eBooks Discounted to $2.99!

The folks at Mysterious Press wrote to let us know that they have marked down a select number of their ebooks to just $2.99 (for a limited time only).

The ten books listed below will give readers a chance to sample the diversity of authors represented by the publisher. All are currently available from Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble, and most from iTunes; we've provided order/information links for your convenience … but please remember to confirm the price of your book before you check out. Prices can and do change without prior notice.

Death in High Heels by Christanna Brand
( Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble )

Her Last Call to Louis MacNeice by Ken Bruen
( Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | iTunes )

Dog Eat Dog by Ed Bunker
( Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble )

Blood Innocents by Thomas H. Cook
( Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | iTunes )

Clandestine by James Ellroy
( Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | iTunes )

The Ninth Directive by Adam Hall
( Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | iTunes )

Seance on a Wet Afternoon by Mark McShane
( Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | iTunes )

The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen
( Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | iTunes )

Yellow-Dog Contract by Ross Thomas
( Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | iTunes )

The Hot Rock by Donald E. Westlake
( Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | iTunes )

Review: Stolen Souls by Stuart Neville

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Stolen Souls by Stuart Neville.

Three TNT Crime Dramas Return Sunday, November 27th, 2011

Three TNT crime dramas pick up their seasons starting tomorrow, Sunday November 27th, 2011.

First up is Leverage on Sunday at 9 PM (ET/PT). In an episode titles "The Experimental Job", the team must go back to college and infiltrate the world of Skull & Bones secret societies when homeless veterans in the Boston area begin disappearing.

Next, on Monday at 9 PM (ET/PT), The Closer returns with an episode titled "Necessary Evil". The death of a high school principal who had been trying to clear his school from scandal suddenly causes Brenda and Fritz to fight over who has control of the case because an already existing investigation causes the cases to overlap.

Finally, an hour later on Monday at 10 PM (ET/PT), Rizzoli & Isles returns in "Can I Get a Witness?" in which the gal-pal sleuths investigate the shooting of a community activist. Before long, a witness emerges to testify against a notorious gang member and TV host Bill O'Reilly (playing himself) arrives and voices on-air disapproval of the police department.

Reviews of Mystery and Suspense Books for Kids, New This Week on Book Trends (111126)

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.

Following Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci. A sequel to The Body of Christopher Creed. Lexile measure: N/A; the previous book is rated 720L. Reviewed by a 6th grade student, who writes, "The plot is very tense which is my favorite type of book. … Even if you don't like mysteries or thrillers I think you will still love this amazing book." (Read the full review here.)

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.

New Hardcover Mysteries for December 2011

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books has updated its list of new hardcover mysteries with books scheduled for publication in December 2011. Please note that some titles may publish early, and may already be available, and some may be delayed, published at a later date.

Below we're listing those authors with returning series characters, new series characters, and non-series or stand-alone mysteries in separate sections. All titles are available on our December new mystery books page, which will become the default home page for the site on December 1st.

• Authors with mysteries featuring returning series characters (in italics) this month:

Sandra Balzo (Maggy Thorsen, 7th) —  D. C. Brod (Robyn Guthrie, 2nd) —  Don Bruns (James Lessor and Skip Moore, 5th) —  Stephen J. Cannell (Shane Scully, 11th) —  Joanna Challis (Daphne du Maurier, 3rd) —  Tom Clancy and Mark Greaney (Jack Ryan Jr., 3rd) —  Reed Farrel Coleman (Moe Prager, 7th) —  Kent Conwell (Tony Boudreaux, 12th) —  Patricia Cornwell (Kay Scarpetta, 19th) —  Colin Cotterill (Dr. Siri Paiboun, 8th) —  Nick Drake (Rahotep, 3rd) —  Robert Ellis (Lena Gamble, 3rd) —  Monica Ferris (Betsy Devonshire, Needlecraft, 15th) —  Jane Finnis (Aurelia Marcella, 4th) —  Leighton Gage (Mario Silva, 5th) —  H. Terrell Griffin (Matt Royal, 6th) —  W. E. B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV (Presidential Agent, 7th) —  Derek Haas (Silver Bear, 3rd) —  Barbara Hambly (Benjamin January, 11th) —  Tami Hoag (Oak Knoll, 3rd) —  Anne Holt (Hanne Wilhelmsen, 8th) —  Graham Ison (Brock and Poole, 11th) —  Bill James (Harpur and Iles, 27th) —  J. Sydney Jones (Karl Werthen, Viennese, 3rd) —  Raymond Khoury (Sean Reilly and Tess Chaykin, 5th) —  Robert Knightly (Harry Corbin and Adele Bentibi, 2nd) —  Deryn Lake (John Rawlings, 14th) —  Martin Limon (George Sueño and Ernie Bascom, 7th) —  Ralph McInerny (Father Dowling Short Stories) —  Amy Myers (Peter and Georgia Marsh, 8th) —  Jo Nesbo (Harry Hole, 8th) —  James Patterson and Jill Dembowski (Witch & Wizard, 3rd) —  Ann Purser (Lois Meade, 13th) —  Al Roker and Dick Lochte (Billy Blessing, 3rd) —  Fay Sampson (Suzie Fewings, 4th) —  Alexander McCall Smith (Sunday Philosophy Club, 8th) —  Dana Stabenow (Kate Shugak, 19th) —  Taylor Stevens (Vanessa "Michael" Munroe, 2nd) —  Jan Costin Wagner (Kimmo Joentaa, 2nd) —  Stuart Woods (Stone Barrington, 22nd) —  Anthony E. Zuiker and Duane Swierczynski (Steve Dark, 3rd)

• Authors with mysteries introducing characters (in italics) in a new series this month:

Karen Charlton (Regency Reivers) —  Stephen Hunter (Ray Cruz) —  Clea Koff (Jayne Hall and Steelie Lander) —  Lois Lamanna (Marlene Webb and Bethany Cunningham) —  Edward Marston (Harvey Marmion)

• Authors with non-series or stand-alone mysteries this month:

Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene —  Robin Cook —  Gar Anthony Haywood —  David James —  P. D. James —  Larry Karp —  Dean Koontz —  Ed Kovacs —  Michael Z. Lewin —  Craig McDonald —  Kyle Mills —  D-L Nelson —  Paul Theroux —  Elizabeth Voss

For more information on any of these titles, please visit the December new mysteries page on our website. If you're interested in new paperbacks, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where you can discover a library of new mystery, suspense and thriller books, also updated with December 2011 releases.

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.

The Dummy Line by Bobby Cole is Today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Dummy Line by Bobby Cole as today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal. The deal price of $0.99 is valid only for today, Friday, November 25, 2011.

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The Dummy Line by Bobby Cole
Non-Series
AmazonEncore

Earlier this month we were delighted to welcome Bobby Cole as our guest blogger, who wrote about two sides of a thrilling adventure: the hunter and the hunted. The Dummy Line is his debut novel.

About The Dummy Line (from the publisher): Avid hunter Jake Crosby is thrilled that his nine-year-old daughter Katy shares his love of the outdoors. His wife, Morgan, on the other hand, does not, which means Jake and Katy enjoy an abundance of hunting, fishing, and camping trips together. So when they head off into the Alabama woods for a spring turkey hunt, Jake expects nothing out of the ordinary. But even his worst nightmares could not prepare him for what befalls them that evening, when a band of drug dealers attempts to break into their remote camp.

Desperate to protect his daughter and himself, Jake makes a gut-wrenching decision. His quick thinking enables him and Katy to escape … but brings the gang of vengeful criminals hot on their trail. Gambling on his knowledge of the land and hunting skills, he leads their bloodthirsty pursuers on a perilous cat-and-mouse game deep within the Noxubee River swamp. Jake knows they all won’t come out alive — but he will do whatever is necessary to make sure Katy does.

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 11/25/2011 Download Link.

Mystery Bestsellers for the Week Ending November 25, 2011

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending November 25th, 2011 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

Last week's featured title, V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton, makes a run for the top spot but is edged out by The Litigators by John Grisham, which retains the number one position for the third week in a row. Two new titles debut this week.

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Coming in at number 10 is the 18th numbered entry in the Stephanie Plum series, Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich.

Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127 Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, and she’s flying back to New Jersey solo. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead, in a garbage can, waiting for curbside pickup. His killer could be anyone. And a ragtag collection of thugs and psychos, not to mention the FBI, are all looking for a photograph the dead man was supposed to be carrying.

Only one other person has seen the missing photo — Stephanie Plum. Now she’s the target, and she doesn’t intend to end up in a garbage can. With the help of an FBI sketch artist Stephanie re-creates the person in the photo. Unfortunately the first sketch turns out to look like Tom Cruise, and the second sketch like Ashton Kutcher. Until Stephanie can improve her descriptive skills, she’ll need to watch her back.

Over at the bail bonds agency things are going from bad to worse. The bonds bus serving as Vinnie’s temporary HQ goes up in smoke. Stephanie’s wheelman, Lula, falls in love with their largest skip yet. Lifetime arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt moves into Stephanie’s apartment. And everyone wants to know what happened in Hawaii?

Morelli, Trenton’s hottest cop, isn’t talking about Hawaii. Ranger, the man of mystery, isn’t talking about Hawaii. And all Stephanie is willing to say about her Hawaiian vacation is … It’s complicated.

Purchase Options:

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Two spots lower at number 12 is Micro, a thriller by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston.

Three men are found dead in the locked second-floor office of a Honolulu building, with no sign of struggle except for the ultrafine, razor-sharp cuts covering their bodies. The only clue left behind is a tiny bladed robot, nearly invisible to the human eye.

In the lush forests of Oahu, groundbreaking technology has ushered in a revolutionary era of biological prospecting. Trillions of microorganisms, tens of thousands of bacteria species, are being discovered; they are feeding a search for priceless drugs and applications on a scale beyond anything previously imagined.

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, seven graduate students at the forefront of their fields are recruited by a pioneering microbiology start-up. Nanigen MicroTechnologies dispatches the group to a mysterious lab in Hawaii, where they are promised access to tools that will open a whole new scientific frontier.

But once in the Oahu rain forest, the scientists are thrust into a hostile wilderness that reveals profound and surprising dangers at every turn. Armed only with their knowledge of the natural world, they find themselves prey to a technology of radical and unbridled power. To survive, they must harness the inherent forces of nature itself.

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.