David Handler's Stewart Hoag Mysteries, Now Available as eBooks

Mysterious Press announced yesterday that the eight books in David Handler's "Stewart Hoag" mystery series, originally published between 1988 and 1997, have been re-issued in e-book format. We've listed them below, in their series order.

These entertaining mysteries — we've read them all — feature celebrity ghostwriter Stewart Hoag, an amateur sleuth who is always accompanied by his bassett hound Lulu. The third book in the series, The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald, was recognized with an Edgar Award in 1991 as Best Paperback Original.

In 2001, Handler began a new mystery series, featuring film critic Mitch Berger and Connecticut police trooper Desiree "Des" Mitry. He is also the author of the stand-alone novel, Click to Play.

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The Man Who Died Laughing 
David Handler
Series: A Steward Hoag Mystery (1st)

The Man Who Lived by Night 
David Handler
Series: A Steward Hoag Mystery (2nd)

The Man Who Would be F. Scott Fitzgerald 
David Handler
Series: A Steward Hoag Mystery (3rd)

The Woman Who Fell from Grace 
David Handler
Series: A Steward Hoag Mystery (4th)

The Boy Who Never Grew Up 
David Handler
Series: A Steward Hoag Mystery (5th)

The Man Who Cancelled Himself 
David Handler
Series: A Steward Hoag Mystery (6th)

The Girl Who Ran Off with Daddy 
David Handler
Series: A Steward Hoag Mystery (7th)

The Man Who Loved Women to Death 
David Handler
Series: A Steward Hoag Mystery (8th)

Suspicious Minds by Paul Bishop is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Suspicious Minds by Paul Bishop 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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Suspicious Minds by Paul Bishop
A Cole Ramsey Mystery
Publisher: Paul Bishop

About Suspicious Minds (from the publisher): 1977, the one and only king of rock-n-roll, Elvis Presley, is taken from the world far too soon, but the legend will never die.

1996, Elvis impersonator Cole Ramsey, a young man with enough voice and a style to take him to the top, receives a very odd phone call from an Icon dead for almost twenty years … Cole has heard all the Elvis conspiracy rumors, but … it couldn’t be …

Before he knows it, however, Cole’s life is turned upside down. He’s on the run and up to his ears in Elvises … are they all impersonators or is one of them hiding from deadly suspicious minds …

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 Kindle Edition Download Link.

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

Review: Scoundrels by Gary Phillips, editor

We've just published our Review of Scoundrels by Gary Phillips, editor. Tales of Greed, Murder and Financial Crimes. Down & Out Books Trade Paperback, March 2012.

Our rating:

Available to purchase from …

William Boyd's Spy Thriller Restless to be Adapted for Television Miniseries

The Sundance Channel and BBC are teaming up to co-produce a made-for-television adaptation of William Boyd's bestselling spy thriller Restless. Boyd wrote the screenplay for the two-part miniseries, which will be directed by Edward Hall.

Someone is trying to kill Sally Gilmartin. It is the summer of 1976, and the only person she can trust is her daughter, Ruth, a young single mother struggling with her own demons. Now Sally must tell her daughter the truth: She is actually Eva Delectorskaya, a Russian émigré recruited for the British Secret Service in 1939.

Soon Ruth is drawn deeper into the astonishing events of her mother's past, including her work in New York City manipulating the press in order to shift public sentiment toward U.S. involvement in Second World War and her dangerous love affair with another spy. Ruth also discovers that her mother has one final assignment. This time, though, Eva can't do it alone — she needs Ruth's help.

Filming is set to get underway this summer in South Africa and the UK. Restless is expected to air late in the year on BBC One and the Sundance Channel.

New Poster for Financial Thriller Arbitrage

A new poster for the financial thriller Arbitrage has been released by the studio (right; click for slightly larger image). The poster's tagline: "Power is the best alibi".

Richard Gere stars as New York hedge-fund magnate Robert Miller, who, on the eve of his 60th birthday, appears the very portrait of success in American business and family life. But behind the gilded walls of his mansion, Miller is in over his head, desperately trying to complete the sale of his trading empire to a major bank before the depths of his fraud are revealed. Struggling to conceal his duplicity from loyal wife Ellen (Susan Sarandon) and brilliant daughter and heir-apparent Brooke (Brit Marling), Miller's also balancing an affair with French art-dealer Julie Cote (Laetetia Casta). Just as he's about to unload his troubled empire, an unexpected bloody error forces him to juggle family, business, and crime with the aid of Jimmy Grant (Nate Parker), a face from Miller's past. One wrong turn ignites the suspicions of NYPD Detective Michael Bryer (Tim Roth), who will stop at nothing in his pursuits. Running on borrowed time, Miller is forced to confront the limits of even his own moral duplicity. Will he make it out before the bubble bursts?

Nicholas Jarecki directs his own original screenplay. Arbitrage premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January; it is listed as having a September 14th release date in theaters, but we suspect that to be limited. You can watch a trailer for the film on Apple.com.

Final Call for Entries in the Bloody Scotland Glengoyne Short Story Competition

Final call for entries in the Bloody Scotland Glengoyne Short Story Competition!

Just as Scotland is world-renowned for its fine malt whisky, so it is known for the exceptional quality of its crime fiction. To celebrate and recognize this synergy, Glengoyne Highland Single Malt is proud to sponsor a new short story writing competition as part of Bloody Scotland.

With the aim of discovering the next big name in crime fiction, Bloody Scotland’s Glengoyne Whisky Short Story Competition gives you the opportunity to be published in an ebook anthology of short crime stories titled Worth The Wait.

All entries must be original and unpublished (in print, digitally or on the web), in English, and less than 3000 words. You must also be over 18 and the copyright holder of the material. There is no restriction on the country of origin, and there is a £10 entry fee, payable in your local currency.

The closing date is this Friday, June 29th, 2012. For more information, including a list of prizes for the winner and runners-up, visit the competition webpage.

James Rollins Talks about His New SIGMA Force Thriller, Bloodline

James Rollins's 8th "SIGMA Force" thriller, Bloodline, is published today by William Morrow.

In a video (embedded below), the author talks about the relationship between two characters in the book, a pair of special operatives with unique talents: former Army Ranger Captain Tucker Wayne and his military war dog, Kane. They both play an important role in the mission at the heart of this story.

Bloodline opens in Galilee, 1025. Infiltrating an ancient citadel, a Templar knight uncovers a holy treasure long hidden within the fortress's labyrinth: the Bachal Isu — the staff of Jesus Christ — a priceless icon that holds a mysterious and terrifying power that promises to change humankind forever.

A millennium later, Somali pirates hijack a yacht off the coast of the Horn of Africa, kidnapping a young pregnant American woman. Commander Gray Pierce is enlisted for a covert rescue mission into the African jungle. The woman is no rich tourist: she's Amanda Gant-Bennett, daughter of the U.S. president.

Suspicious that the kidnapping masks a far more nefarious plot, Gray must confront a shadowy cabal which has been manipulating events throughout history — and now challenges the current presidency.

ABC Renews Rookie Blue for Fourth Season

Fans of the ABC crime drama Rookie Blue won't have to wait until the end of the third season, which is currently airing, to find out if the series will get a fourth season or not.

After just three episodes, ABC preemptively announced today that the series has been renewed. The fourth season is currently in development and will move into production in Toronto later this summer.

Rookie Blue provides a candid look at the personal and professional lives of five rookie cops as they navigate their first years on the beat. Now in their third year on the job, these rookies have learned to overcome the sophomore curse — that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. With a little more experience under their belts, they're starting to realize that not only is the uniform shaping their professional identity, but it has also started to mold them as people. How can they stay true to themselves — maintaining their individuality and compassion — along the way? This year, the rookies of 15 Division are going to have to learn to be careful what they wish for — and they are going to learn it the hard way.

Rookie Blue currently airs on Thursdays on ABC.

Darkness All Around by Doug Magee: Enter to Win a Trade Paperback Copy!

Omnimystery News is pleased to offer two of our readers a chance to win a trade paperback copy of Doug Magee's second thriller, Darkness All Around, courtesy of the publisher, Touchstone.

When there's darkness all around … some memories are best forgotten …

Within the span of one harrowing week, Risa's alcoholic husband, Sean, disappears, and her best friend, Carol, is brutally murdered. Eleven years later, Risa has seemingly put her life back together again, comforted by the love of her new husband, who is a local politician, and the knowledge that Carol's killer has been convicted. But then just as suddenly as he disappeared, Sean resurfaces — sober, plagued by horrific recollections of Carol's murder, and convinced he was the real killer.

Sean's startling claim buzzes through the small, football-crazy Pennsylvania community, and Risa is left to wonder if the man she still loves actually committed the grisly murder. Her growing belief in his innocence sends her on a treacherous search for the truth: a search that reveals ugly secrets that her new husband and the town's law enforcement community are hiding.

Emboldened by her discoveries, Risa convinces Sean to flee as the town's violent forces move in to keep the truth from coming to light. But Risa doesn't realize that her attempts to get vindication for Sean may come at a very high price.

For a chance to win one of two copies of the trade paperback edition of Darkness All Around, visit Mystery Book Contests and click on the Doug Magee: Darkness All Around contest link, enter your name, e-mail address, and this code: 2049. (One entry per person. US residents only. Contest ends July 2nd, 2012. Books provided courtesy of Touchstone, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.)

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120626)

Here is today's list of the top bestselling free Kindle mysteries, suspense novels and thrillers.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is updated hourly, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

New Hardcover Mysteries for July 2012

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books has updated its list of new hardcover mysteries with books scheduled for publication in July 2012. Please note that some titles July publish early, and July already be available, and some July 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 July new mystery books page, which will become the default home page for the site on July 1st.

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

Jeff Abbott (Sam Capra, 2nd) —  Esri Allbritten ("Tripping Magazine", 2nd) —  Donna Andrews (Meg Langslow, 14th) —  Lorna Barrett (Tricia Miles, Booktown, 6th) —  Daniel Blake (Franco Patrese, 2nd) —  James Lee Burke (Dave Robicheaux, 19th) —  Alexander Campion (Capucine Le Tellier, 3rd) —  Rebecca Cantrell (Hannah Vogel, 4th) —  Jill Churchill (Grace and Favor, 7th) —  Ben Coes (Dewey Andreas, 3rd) —  Catherine Coulter (FBI Suspense, 16th) —  Mary Daheim (Bed-and-Breakfast, 27th) —  David Duffy (Turbo Vlost, 2nd) —  Linda Fairstein (Alex Cooper, 14th) —  Shamini Flint (Inspector Singh, 3rd) —  Tana French ("Dublin Murder Squad", 4th) —  David L. Golemon (Event Group, 7th) —  Elly Griffiths (Ruth Galloway, 4th) —  David Hagberg (Kirk McGarvey, 16th) —  Patricia Hall (Kate O'Donnell, 2nd) —  Tarquin Hall (Vish Puri, 3rd) —  Timothy Hallinan (Poke Rafferty, 5th) —  Steve Hamilton (Alex McKnight, 9th) —  Janice Hamrick (Jocelyn Shore, 2nd) —  Deborah Harkness (All Souls Trilogy, 2nd) —  Kay Hooper (Special Crimes Unit, 2nd) —  Maria Hudgins (Dotsy Lamb, 4th) —  J. A. Jance (Joanna Brady, 15th) —  Alex Kava (Maggie O'Dell, 10th) —  Lars Kepler (Joona Linna, 2nd) —  Dean Koontz (Odd Thomas, 5th) —  Jon Land (Caitlin Strong, 4th) —  Victoria Laurie (Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye, 10th) —  Martin Limon (George Sueño and Ernie Bascom, 8th) —  Ann Littlewood (Iris Oakley, 3rd) —  Jon Loomis (Frank Coffin, 3rd) —  Carol McCleary (Nellie Bly, 3rd) —  Susan Oleksiw (Anita Ray, 2nd) —  James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (Michael Bennett, 5th) —  Bill Pronzini (Nameless Detective, 36th) —  J. R. Ripley (Tony Kozol, 6th) —  David Rosenfelt (Andy Carpenter, 10th) —  Rosemary Rowe (Libertus of Roman Britain, 13th) —  Kate Sedley (Roger the Chapman, 21st) —  Daniel Silva (Gabriel Allon, 12th) —  Karin Slaughter (Will Trent, 4th) —  Brad Thor (Scot Harvath, 11th) —  Peter Tonkin (Richard Mariner, 25th) —  Peter Tremayne (Sister Fidelma, 22nd) —  John Verdon (Dave Gurney, 3rd) —  Martin Walker (Bruno, Chief of Police, 4th) —  Simon Wood (Aidy Westlake, 2nd) —  Reavis Z. Wortham (Ned Parker, Red River, 2nd)

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

Jeff Crook (Jackie Lyons) —  Barry Fantoni (Harry Lipkin) —  Jeanine Pirro (Dani Fox) —  Andy Siegel (Tug Wyler) —  Marco Vichi (Inspector Bordelli)

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

Megan Abbott —  Annamaria Alfieri —  John A. Andrews —  J. I. Baker —  Sara Blaedel —  Christopher Brookmyre —  Joy Castro —  Sean Chercover —  Mark de Castrique —  Peter de Jonge —  Guy Endore —  Giorgio Faletti —  Meg Gardiner —  K. B. Gibson —  David S. Goyer and Michael Cassutt —  Camilla Grebe and Åsa Träff —  Andrew Gross —  Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen —  David John —  Graham Joyce —  I. J. Kay —  Jesse Kellerman —  Tabish Khair —  Liza Klaussmann —  Bernard Knight —  Jim Kohlberg —  Scott Lasser —  Allison Leotta —  Francine Mathews —  Stephen Miller —  Steve Mosby —  Steven Owad —  Eric Red —  Rob Reid —  Jeffrey Robinson —  M. L. Stedman —  Daniel Suarez —  Cathi Unsworth —  Norb Vonnegut —  Dan Wells —  Thomas W. Young —  Carlos Ruiz Zafón

For more information on any of these titles, please visit the July 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 July 2012 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.

Mystery and Suspense Films, New This Week on DVD (120626)

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.

See also a list of current mystery and suspense DVD, Blu-ray, or VOD deals on Amazon.com.

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Purchase/Rental Options

21 Jump Street (2012)

Film Synopsis (from the studio): Jonah Hill and Channing Tatus star as Schmidt and Jenko, who are more than ready to leave their adolescent problems behind. Joining the police force and the secret Jump Street unit, they use their youthful appearances to go undercover in a local high school. As they trade in their guns and badges for backpacks, Schmidt and Jenko risk their lives to investigate a violent and dangerous drug ring. But they find that high school is nothing like they left it just a few years earlier – and neither expects that they will have to confront the terror and anxiety of being a teenager again and all the issues they thought they had left behind.

Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from an original screenplay by Michael Bacall and based on the television series of the same title created by Stephen J. Cannel and Neal H. Moritz, 21 Jump Street is rated R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, drug material, teen drinking and some violence.

Watch a trailer for the film below:

Telemystery: Beck and Maigret, New This Week on DVD

Telemystery is 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.

Yesterday we profiled four television series being released this week. Today we're featuring two additional series, both European, which we weren't quite sure were actually going to be released. Indeed, both series have 1-2 month shipping timeframes.

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He's got no style, he's got no flash and he's squarely in middle age. But police detective Martin Beck (Peter Haber) is good at one thing: methodically catching criminals so that they can be put away … for a long time in the Swedish crime drama Beck, based on a character created by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö.

Two sets are being released:

Beck: Episodes 1-3 is available on DVD and consists of these three feature length (90 minute) episodes: "The Decoy Boy", "The Man with the Icons", "White Nights".

Beck: Episodes 4-6 is available on DVD and consists of these three episodes: "Serial Killer", "The Pearl Hotel", and "The Monster".

All episodes are in Swedish with English subtitles.

A total of 26 episodes originally aired over a 13 year period, so there are plenty more to come!

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Bruno Creme stars as Parisian police detective Jules Maigret in the French television series Maigret. The character was created by crime novelist Georges Simenon, who featured the Commissaire in 75 novels and numerous short stories from 1931 through 1972.

Maigret: Set Two is available on DVD and consists of these eight feature-length (about 90 minute) episodes: "Maigret at the Majestic", "Maigret on Trial", "Maigret's Patience", "Maigret and the Man on the Bench", "Maigret and the Reluctant Witness", and "Maigret and the Ghost".

All episodes are in French with English subtitles.

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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.