Dare to Die by Carolyn Hart is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Dare to Die by Carolyn Hart as today's free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Dare to Die by Carolyn Hart
A Death on Demand Mystery
Publisher: HarperCollins

This is the 19th mystery in this long-running series featuring mystery bookstore owner Annie Laurance.

About Dare to Die (from the publisher): Annie and Max Darling are completely unprepared when the arrival of a mysterious young woman shocks their sea island and stirs up more than just gossip.

It turns out that Iris, the beautiful stranger, is a former resident of Broward's Rock. Her arrival throws the normally happy town into a downward spiral that pits neighbor against neighbor.

Things take a turn for the worse when Annie befriends Iris and invites her to attend the Darlings' party at the pavilion where Death is the uninvited guest. Suddenly, Max and Annie find themselves in the middle of a fight they don't understand and at the mercy of an unknown assailant who's trying to kill them — and all they know is that it is one of their friends.

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. 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.

Kobo Free eBook Download Link.

Apple Free iBook Download Link (via iTunes).

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

A Dangerous Talent by Charlotte Elkins and Aaron Elkins is Today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal

MystereBooks is pleased to feature A Dangerous Talent by Charlotte Elkins and Aaron Elkins as today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal. The deal price of $0.99 is valid only for today, Tuesday, March 27, 2012.

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A Dangerous Talent by Charlotte Elkins and Aaron Elkins
An Alix London Mystery
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

About A Dangerous Talent (from the publisher): Alix London has a promising career as an art consultant, a sumptuous condo in Seattle’s toniest neighborhood, a gorgeous figure, and a presence that exudes Ivy League breeding and old money. She has it all … or does she? Only Alix knows that the image she presents to the world is a carefully constructed mirage that veils an embarrassing truth.

A brilliant, once-promising art student, the daughter of a prominent New York art conservator, her world was left in ruins when her father went to prison for art forgery. Now a Harvard dropout with an emptied bank account, she is languishing in a career that has produced little more than a lucky house-sitting gig.

But all of that changes when Alix meets Christine Lemay, a novice art collector with money to burn and a hot tip on a recently discovered painting by American master Georgia O’Keeffe. Chris hires Alix to perform the authentication, an assignment that finally could launch Alix into the big leagues. But soon after her arrival in Santa Fe, she finds herself tangled up in a web of forgery, deceit — and murder.

Anxious to avoid becoming the next victim, she teams up with FBI Special Agent Ted Ellesworth — and gets a little unlikely help from her roguish father — to uncover the truth behind the painting and those who would kill to have it.

Important Note: Amazon.com updates its Kindle book deal every day at approximately midnight PT. The title referenced above is available at a discounted price for Tuesday, March 27, 2012 only.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Kindle Daily Deal.

First Clues, Mysteries for Kids: New Titles for April 2012

First Clues: Mysteries for Kids is pleased to announce a selection of new mystery, suspense and thriller books (including series books) scheduled for publication during April 2012, listed in approximate order of reading level, from books for younger readers to books for teens.

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The Great Cake Mystery
Alexander McCall Smith
A Precious Ramotswe Mystery

It sometimes happens that a person's true profession becomes apparent even in childhood … and that is the case for Precious Ramotswe. In this, her very first detective case, Precious exhibits the character traits that will contribute to her future success as an adult. At the same time, she is able to make a new friend and prevent a terrible injustice in the schoolyard.

Set in her beloved homeland of Botswana, the story introduces readers to the culture and topography of the country.

This new series is recommended for readers aged 7 to 9.

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Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth
Jane O'Connor
A Fancy Nancy Mystery

Nancy Clancy and her best friend, Bree, have everything they need to solve a mystery, from their totally professional trench coats to their top-secret code.

But when crime strikes in their classroom, will these super sleuths be able to crack the case?

Find out in the glamorous start to an all-new chapter book series featuring everyone's favorite fancy girl!

The Fancy Nancy mysteries are recommended for readers aged 7 to 9.

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Case of the Bookstore Burglar
Aaron Rosenberg
Pete and Penny's Pizza Puzzles

Pete and Penny live above Pizzarelli's, the family pizza parlor, in the town of Redville. A bookstore opens next door and strange things start happening there - bookshelves collapse, the fire alarm goes off, books disappear! Is someone trying to sabotage the new bookstore? When a secret message appears in the wall between the two stores, Pete and Penny start to puzzle it out. They need your help!

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Case of the Sinking Circus
Aaron Rosenberg
Pete and Penny's Pizza Puzzles

The circus has come to town, and Pete and Penny can't wait to go. But after a monkey shows up at the pizza parlor with a coded message, Pete and Penny uncover a circus crook! Can they save the circus before it's too late?

In this unique chapter book series, readers solve the puzzles right alongside the main characters and then those clues lead them to solve the mystery!

Pete and Penny's Pizza Puzzles are recommended for readers aged 7 to 9.

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Sports Sabotage
Franklin W. Dixon
The Hardy Boys Secret Files

It's time for Field Day at Bayport Elementary and all the kids are excited! Whatever grade wins gets a pizza party, and the person with the highest personal score also gets a special prize. But when the field equipment is sabotaged the day before the events are supposed to start, it looks like Field Day might not happen after all — unless someone can find out who is behind the mess of ruined rackets, tangled jump ropes, and flattened balloons. Can Frank and Joe crack the case and save Field Day?

The Hardy Boys Secret Files are recommended for readers aged 7 to 9.

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The Case of the Mystery Meat Loaf
David Lewman
Club CSI:

Ben, Corey, and Hannah's first case as Club CSI: begins when a bunch of students and the principal get food poisoning from the cafeteria's hot lunch. Everyone blames the new science teacher because she pushed the lunch lady to add her healthy “meatless meat loaf” recipe to the menu, but Club CSI: isn't pointing fingers until they evaluate the evidence. Can they find out who messed with the meat loaf before the science teacher gets in trouble or more people get sick? Club CSI: is on the case!

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The Case of the Missing Moola
David Lewman
Club CSI:

Ben, Corey, and Hannah will have to use all they've learned about forensic science — plus good old-fashioned detective work and a little bit of luck — to solve their next case!

The Club CSI: books are recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.

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Shell Game
Ridley Pearson
Kingdom Keepers

As the five Kingdom Keepers enter high school, everything is about to change. The Maintenance Base that controls all four parks in Disney World is under attack by the Overtakers, a group determined to change Disneyforever. Relationships between the Keepers are no longer as simple as they once were. In fact, nothing is as simple as it once was.

An after-hours visit to Typhoon Lagoon is a game changer. The Keepers lose one of their most valuable supporters. But there's work to do …

The Disney Dream leaves Port Canaveral on an historic cruise to Los Angeles with a special treat in store for guests: the Disney Host Interactive guides are on board. Finn, Maybeck, Charlene, Willa, and Philby join guests as the DHI experience moves to one of the most advanced cruise ships in the world.

But all is not right below decks. Strange things are happening. Only the Kingdom Keepers know the truth behind their invitation to be in attendance: nearly every Disney villain is aboard the ship, including Maleficent. The Overtakers have infiltrated the cast and crew. And no oneknows what they have planned.

The Dream sets sail filled with enthusiastic guests and crew. But not for long. Maleficent takes over a video screen and warns the guests of trouble to come. With the ship arriving to the beaches of Castaway Cay--its first of many exotic ports of call — the Kingdom Keepers are under attack; back home the Base is threatened and about to fall. The Overtakers have expanded in ways never foreseen, and it's clear they intend to use this element of surprise to accomplish what has eluded them so far: victory.

But not if Finn Whitman and friends have anything to say about it.

The Kingdom Keepers novels are recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.

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Max Finder Collected Casebook Volume 6
Liam O'Donnell
Max Finder Casebooks

Each solve-it-yourself story stars amateur detective Max Finder and his best friend, aspiring journalist Alison Santos. Seventh graders at Central Meadows Junior High, these two intrepid investigators must call upon their reason, memory, critical thinking, and observation skills to crack each case before them. Who is stealing all the bikes from the skate park? Who uprooted the Green Thumb Club's school garden? And why did someone toilet-paper the new girl's house? Readers can decipher the clues for themselves and draw their own conclusions — before the true culprit is revealed.

Bonus content unique to this volume includes a "usual suspects" style introduction to all the recurring characters and a how-to guide for planning a mystery detective party for home or school — extras that are sure to intrigue veteran and new readers alike!

The Max Finder Casebooks are recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.

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Invasion of the Dognappers
Patrick Jennings

Nothing gets past Logan. When he observes that the neighborhood's dogs are mysteriously vanishing, he suspects nothing less than a full-scale alien dognapping invasion. The adults don't believe him, of course, so he enlists his friends to investigate and soon they make a shocking discovery.

Now man's best friend needs help. Fast. Suddenly, Logan and his team are on a mission unlike anything known to man.

This stand-alone story is recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.

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First Clues: Mysteries for Kids is your source for information on over 200 mystery series for children and young adults, where each series is conveniently listed under four different age categories (New Sleuths, ages 4 to 6; Future Sleuths, ages 7 to 9; Sleuths in Training, ages 10 to 12; and Apprentice Sleuths, ages 13 and older).

Cast Update for BBC's Crime Drama The Fall

Last month we learned that Gillian Anderson will star in The Fall, a new crime series for BBC. Today the British network is reporting that Jamie Dornan, who is currently starring in ABC's Once Upon a Time, will play serial killer Paul Sector, who is being sought by Detective Superintendent Gibson (Anderson).

Written by Allan Cubitt, the crime drama will follow a police investigation that uncovers the intricate story of lives entangled by a series of murders, from both the perspective of the killer's and victim's families. Filming on the 5-episode series is underway in Belfast.

(Source: Press release.)

Anno 1790, a Swedish Historical Crime Drama, New This Week on DVD

Earlier today we posted about three crime series being released this week on DVD. But we missed one, the Swedish historical crime drama Anno 1790. (It's not even included yet on our Telemystery site, something we'll take care of later today!)

We first heard of Anno 1790 last August, when the Swedish television network SVT announced its Fall 2011 line-up. Ten episodes aired and are included in this new DVD set. (We don't believe SVT has made a decision yet on a second season.)

It is the Age of Enlightenment, the year 1790. After returning from the battlefields of a bloody war in Finland, Swedish army surgeon Johan Gustav Dåådh (Peter Eggers) finds himself reluctantly taking on the job as district police commissioner in Stockholm. Unenthusiastic about police work, he still brings tenacity and dispassionate reasoning to the job, with an eye to ensuring that criminals are caught and the innocent remain free. His methods may not be modern but they work, and the motives for the crimes remain unchanged from today: revenge, greed, love, jealousy and politics. Beneath the calm exterior, Dåådh is as conflicted as the times he lives in; he's a closeted revolutionary torn between his loyalty to the King and his progressive ideals. He also struggles with forbidden love for his boss wife Magdalena (Linda Zilliacus), who shares his vision for a just and free society.

The episodes are in Swedish with English subtitles. We've embedded a trailer for the DVD set of Anno 1790 below:

Telemystery: East West 101, Murder Investigation Team, and Single-Handed, 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 three series being released this week.

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Don Hany stars as Zane Malik, a Muslim detective with the Major Crime Squad of the Sydney Metropolitan Police Force in the Australian crime drama East West 101.

He's a good husband and father and a dedicated cop with one main problem on the job: Detective Sergeant Ray Crowley (William McInnes). Crowley's an old school policeman for whom rules and regulations play a poor second to getting results. Malik, Crowley, and the rest of the team work together to solve a variety of cases involving people who represent a cross-section of modern Australia, with the two rival cops invariably butting heads in the process.

East West 101: Season One is available on DVD and consists of episodes that originally aired on SBS One during December 2007 and January 2008.

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Fast paced and brimming with twists and turns, Murder Investigation Team follows the course of a criminal investigation from crime scene through profiling, forensics, and good old-fashioned detective work. The series, which ran for two seasons, is a spin-off of the long-running crime drama The Bill.

Love triangles, family estrangements, greed, and lies lead to a series of wrong turns and dead ends, building the pressure to solve cases while the evidence is still fresh — and, sometimes, before the killer can strike again. Along the way, the investigators struggle to walk the line between professional loyalties and personal interests.

Murder Investigation Team: Season Two is available on DVD and consists of episodes that originally aired on ITV in February 2005.

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Owen McDonnell stars as Garda Sergeant Jack Driscoll in the Irish crime drama Single-Handed.

His position as head of the local police force puts Driscoll at the heart of his community — and often at odds with it. Relationships are everything in his small Irish town, where Jack's professional life is inextricably bound with his private life and those of his neighbors. When two new arrivals come from England, eager to discover family history in the area, Jack learns that the solutions to current crimes frequently lie in the distant past.

Single-Handed: Set Two is available on DVD and consists of episodes that originally aired on RTE in Ireland and ITV in the UK in December 2010. (We're currently watching these episodes and will have a review later this week. We called the first season "superb"; see Mr. E.'s review of Single-Handed: Set 1.)

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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.

Teaser Trailer for Breaking Dawn Part 2

A teaser trailer for the fifth film in the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part 2, has been released by the studio (embedded below).

Breaking Dawn is the fourth and final novel in this series of young adult thrillers by Stephenie Meyer. The film adaptation of the book split the narrative into two parts, the first of which was released last November and had Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) marrying Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). Part 2 opens with Bella, who gave birth to a daughter as a human, now a newborn vampire herself.

The film opens in theaters November 16th, 2012.

First TV Spot for Dark Shadows

The marketing of Dark Shadows is beginning to ramp up! Earlier this month we featured a film poster, character posters, and the first trailer. Now we have the first television commercial (embedded below), which clearly plays up the comedic elements of the film.

Based on the late 1960s television show of the same title, Dark Shadows stars Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins, who is freed from his 18th century tomb in 1972 to find the world in the 20th century a very strange place indeed. It is directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith and opens in theaters May 11th, 2012.

Four New George Gently Episodes Commissioned by BBC

BBC has commissioned a new series of four 90-minute episodes of George Gently.

Martin Shaw stars as the police inspector in this crime drama set in Northumberland in the late 1960s. Lee Ingleby plays his sidekick DS John Bacchus.

Writer Peter Flannery says, "Gently and Bacchus return to my home turf of Durham and Northumberland with plenty more murders and cases to solve. It's 1968 and there are huge changes taking place in society, and hopefully our series continues to give a real portrait of the age."

The character is based on one created by crime novelist Alan Hunter, who featured the Detective Inspector in a long-running series of mysteries published from 1955 through 1999.

Filming has begun on location with the episodes expected to air on BBC One later this year.

(Souce: Press release.)

The Long Fall by Lynn Kostoff is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Long Fall by Lynn Kostoff as today's free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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The Long Fall by Lynn Kostoff
Publisher: Tyrus Books

About The Long Fall (from the publisher): In sunbaked Phoenix, Arizona, this never-predictable tale tosses into its antic mix a dead father, his two sons—one a small-time ex-con with a consistent genius for sabotaging his own best interests, the other a straight, uptight solid citizen with a moneymaking chain of dry-cleaning stores and a restive ex-stewardess of a wife named Evelyn—and a sicko cop with a twisted worldview. Recently released from prison—twenty-four months for possession of a truckload of black-market saguaro cacti—and in deep debt to an unforgiving crank dealer, Jimmy Coates returns home only to discover that his brother has cut him out of his inheritance. A not-unjustifiable desire to settle old scores and new sends Jimmy on a robbery spree that wipes out four of his brother's dry-cleaning establishments. But when he finds himself tumbling for a mutinously sexy Evelyn, the impulse to vengeance reverses itself. Unwittingly, however, Jimmy has already set in motion a series of dangerous consequences—adultery, blackmail, love, betrayal—that culminate in a blueprint for murder. And it could be Jimmy himself who is taking the long fall.

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. 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.

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for March 26, 2012

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:

E G H I O R S T U

A covert plot to overthrow a church’s leaders is the premise of this 2012 thriller by Michael Wallace (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!

Review: Poison Flower by Thomas Perry

We've just published our Review of Poison Flower by Thomas Perry. A Jane Whitefield Mystery. Mysterious Press Hardcover, March 2012.

Available to purchase from …

Mr. E. Reviews London Boulevard

Purchase/Rental Option(s)

Colin Farrell turns in a terrific performance in this adaptation of Ken Bruen's crime novel that has too many subplots, too many characters, and too little continuity. I enjoyed Farrell's character, a man torn between two worlds and the various conflicts he faces in each. But pretty much everything, and everyone, else should have been rewritten and/or recast.

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

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