New Trailer for House at the End of the Street

The third theatrical trailer for the horror/thriller House at the End of the Street has been released by the studio; we've embedded it below.

The storyline follows newly divorced Sarah (Elisabeth Shue) and her daughter Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence), who are seeking a fresh start and find the house of their dreams in a small, upscale, rural town. But when startling and unexplainable events begin to happen, Sarah and Elissa learn the town is in the shadows of a chilling secret. Years earlier, in the house next door, a daughter killed her parents in their beds, and disappeared — leaving only a brother, Ryan (Max Thieriot), as the sole survivor. Against Sarah's wishes, Elissa begins a relationship with the reclusive Ryan — and the closer they get, the deeper they're all pulled into a mystery more dangerous than they ever imagined.

Directed by Mark Tonderai from an original screenplay by David Loucka (with story by Jonathan Mostow), House at the End of the Street opens in theaters September 21st, 2012.

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120802)

Here is today's list of the Bestselling Free Kindle Crime Fiction: the top nine mysteries, novels of suspense, 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 click on the image to the right or use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

Nominees for the 2012 Ned Kelly Awards Announced

The nominees (short list) for the 2012 Ned Kelly Awards have been announced on the organization's website. The awards recognize the best in Australian crime fiction and non-fiction.

The winners will be announced during the 2012 Melbourne Writers Festival, which takes place from August 23rd through September 2nd.

Best Novel …
• Pig Boy by J. C. Burke (Random House)
• The Life by Malcolm Knox (Allen & Unwin)
• Chelsea Mansions by Barry Maitland (Allen & Unwin)

Best First Novel …
• When We Have Wings by Claire Corbett (Allen & Unwin)
• The Cartographer by Peter Twohig (HarperCollins)
• The Courier's New Bicycle by Kim Westwood (HarperCollins)

Best True Crime …
• Sins of the Father by Eamonn Duff (Allen & Unwin)
• Call Me Cruel by Michael Duffy (Allen & Unwin)
• Cold Case Files by Liz Porter (Pan Macmillan)

The nominees for the S. D. Harvey Short Story Award are typically announced about two weeks before the start of the Melbourne Writers Festival.

Eileen Harris, Author of the Alicia Trent Antique Magic Mysteries

by Eileen Harris

We are delighted to welcome mystery author Eileen Harris as our guest to Omnimystery News.

Eileen is the author of three books, the stand-alone adventure novel Desert Shadow and two mysteries in a series featuring Arizona antique store owner Alicia Trent.

Today Eileen writes about age and time. And she is giving one of our readers a chance to win a copy of Antique Magic, the first Alicia Trent mystery; details below.

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Since I've started writing full time, I've noticed a trend that initially surprised me. Lots of older people write, and they write everything from short stories to epic novels. Let me start by saying that I think this is wonderful! Of course, I may be a little biased since I am one of these older people that write. As I met more and more of these mature authors, I wondered if I was noticing them because these were my peers, or if there really were a larger-than-expected number of retired adults taking up a second career as a writer.

I began asking people in my target age group why they write. Naturally I received a lot of different answers, but several responses began occurring over and over. “I have always had a big imagination and loved to tell stories. Now I just write them down.” “I've always wanted to write, but my job kept me to busy and tired.” And the one I believe is closest to the plain truth: “I think the desire has always been there, but this is the first time I've ever had the personal time to devote to writing.”

School is competitive, sports are time-consuming, and the social pressures of youth, immense. After the school years, the “real world” begins. Earning a living is paramount, keeping up with the Joneses desirable, and raising children all-consuming. Most days aren't long enough to accomplish what has to be done.

For most people writing is a learned craft. No matter how talented you are there is still a learning curve which must be traveled to bring your work up to a publishable level. First you write, then you rewrite, then you seek outside input, then you rewrite again. Then, just maybe, your ready for one last edit. When the writer finally decides they have a finished product, they can begin the hunt for an agent and a publisher, or they can self-publish. Then maybe there is a book out there. In today's world promoting what you write is a time-consuming job. Even if you write strictly to please yourself, having gone through all the steps to become an author, most of us would hope someone reads the book. So here comes another learning curve, learning how to promote your book in today's modern world. All these things take large blocks of time. There is also the bugaboo of money. Very few writers ever get rich, or even make a living writing. That is often the nail in the coffin to being a full-time writer when there is a family to support.

Ah, but now you're retired, and your lifelong love of reading and writing can be indulged. There are more retired Americans than ever before. Good luck to all of us.

I'd love to hear your opinion, or the reason why you write. You can email me or comment on my blog.

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Eileen Harris lives and writes off the grid in the Arizona high desert. Visit her on her blog, Antique Desert.

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Antique Magic
Eileen Harris
An Alicia Trent Mystery

This is the first book in the series. The second, Antique Forgery, is published this month by Wings ePress.

Antique dealer Alicia Trent is hired to appraise a huge collection of treasures hoarded by a woman who has recently died in the town where Alicia grew up.

The huge old house poses mystery after mystery from the moment she arrives, but the stakes become deadly when murder is added to the mix. The question then becomes, can she stay alive long enough to unmask the killer?

    

For a chance to win a copy of Antique Magic, courtesy of the author, visit Mystery Book Contests, click on the "Eileen Harris: Antique Magic" contest link, enter your name, e-mail address, and this code — 9871 — for a chance to win! (One entry per person; contest ends August 9th, 2012.)

Lockdown by Sean Black is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Lockdown by Sean Black as today's third 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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Lockdown
Sean Black
A Ryan Lock Thriller
Publisher: Transworld Digital

Originally published in hardcover by Bantam in 2009, this is the author's first book.

It may be Christmas Eve in New York, but for ex-military bodyguard Ryan Lock it's business as usual.

His task: to protect the CEO of the world's largest bio-technology company from a group of radical, and highly determined, activists.

But when a failed assassination attempt leaves the streets of midtown littered with bodies, and hours later the son of the company's chief research scientist is abducted from his Upper West Side prep school, Lock's hunt for the boy turns into an explosive game of cat and mouse.

  

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.

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

Hooked by Polly Iyer is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Hooked by Polly Iyer as today's second 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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Hooked
Polly Iyer
Publisher: Parkwood Press

High-priced call girl Tawny Dell boasts a client list that’s part Fortune 500, part Five Families. With a PhD in art history and a tidy chunk of money stashed offshore, she hangs up her G-string with plans to retire to a Mediterranean island to open a gallery.

Lincoln Walsh, NYPD sex-crimes investigator, has other ideas. He wants Tawny to work undercover at a high-class bordello to discover if a murdered call girl worked there. The club, nicknamed Upper Eighties, is owned by an ex-hedge fund manager who’d do anything to hook Tawny into his harem. In exchange for Tawny’s cooperation, Linc’s office, in collaboration with Treasury, will see she avoids prison for failing to pay Uncle Sam his share from years of illegal earnings.

But Tawny gets more than she bargained for — another dead prostitute, a mob boss who’s an old client, and romantic stirrings for the hot New York cop sending her back into the world’s oldest profession.

  

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.

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

Hot Enough to Kill by Paula Boyd is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Hot Enough to Kill by Paula Boyd 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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Hot Enough to Kill
Paula Boyd
A Jolene Jackson Mystery
Publisher: Diomo Books

This is the first mystery in this series.

Jolene Jackson pulls into her home town of Kickapoo, Texas, during a sweltering heat wave wishing for all the world to be anywhere else. The mayor of Kickapoo has been murdered, and Jolene's duty is to keep her flamboyant septuagenarian mother, Lucille, out of jail and off the suspect list.

Caught between salacious gossip at the Dairy Queen and a power-hungry deputy, Jolene soon realizes that the only way to escape Kickapoo with her life — and her sanity — is to sleuth out the murderer in a town full of likely suspects.

  

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.

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

The Zurich Conspiracy by Bernadette Calonego is Today's Kindle Daily Deal

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Zurich Conspiracy by Bernadette Calonego as today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal.

The deal price of $1.99 is valid only for today, Thursday, August 02, 2012.

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The Zurich Conspiracy
Bernadette Calonego

Thirty-something Josefa Rehmer is as smart and ambitious as they come, qualities that have earned her the enviable position of events manager at Loyn, an exclusive Zurich leather accessories company. But when Werner Schulmann is appointed to be her new supervisor, Josefa’s professional ambitions are dealt a serious blow. After all, it was Schulmann’s sexual harassment that nearly derailed her career years earlier.

Unable to stomach the thought of working for such a man, Josefa resigns, abandoning Loyn for another local firm. But when Schulmann is murdered and Loyn’s CEO commits suicide, Josefa begins to suspect that something other than sexual impropriety is plaguing her former company.

She sets out to uncover the truth and soon realizes the two deaths are just the tip of the iceberg. As she digs deeper, Josefa finds herself caught in a complex and dangerous web of blackmail, corporate espionage, and murder. And if she’s not careful, she will be the next one to take the fall.

Important Note: This book was listed at the price mentioned above 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.

First Trailer for Killing Them Softly

The first trailer for Killing Them Softly has been released by the studio (via Moviefone); we've embedded it below.

"You ever killed anyone? They cry, they plead, they call for their mothers. I like to kill them softly, from a distance," so says Jackie Cogan, played by Brad Pitt.

Adapted from the crime novel Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins, the film follows Cogan as a enforcer hired to track down three guys, who robbed a mob-protected card game.

Written and directed by Andrew Dominik, Killing Them Softly opens in theaters October 19th, 2012.

ITV Cancels Case Sensitive

ITV has canceled Case Sensitive after two seasons.

"Seasons" may be a bit of a misnomer, especially as we use it here in the US, as only four episodes of the series, based on books by crime novelist Sophie Hannah, were produced, two for each "season".

In 2011, The Point of Rescue (which was published here as The Wrong Mother) was adapted as a two-part drama. Last month, The Other Half Lives (which was published here as The Dead Lie Down) aired as a second two-part drama. Both featured Hannah's series characters DC Simon Waterhouse (played by Darren Boyd, who tweeted news of the cancellation) and DS Charlie Zailer (Olivia Williams).

To our knowledge, none of the episodes have aired here in the US, though we should expect to see them on DVD at some point. (A Region 2 DVD was released in the UK last month.)

Grand Central Discounts Prices for Two Popular Thriller eBooks

Grand Central Publishing lowered the price today for two ebook titles in two of its most popular thriller series to just $2.99.

The first book features Jason Bourne, a character created by Robert Ludlum, who wrote three books in the series before his death in 2001. Eric Van Lustbader took over the series in 2004 with The Bourne Legacy, not to be confused with the film of the same title that will come out later this year, one that does not include the character but is set in the same universe.

The second book features Aloysius Xingú L. Pendergast, a Special Agent with the FBI operating out of New Orleans. Fever Dream is the first in what the authors are calling the "Helen Trilogy"; published in 2010 it was followed in 2011 by Cold Vengeance. The trilogy will be completed with Two Graves, to be published later this year.

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The Bourne Sanction
Eric Van Lustbader
A Jason Bourne Thriller (6th in series)

After so many adrenaline-soaked years risking his life, Jason Bourne is chafing under the quiet life of a linguistics professor. Aware of his frustrations, his academic mentor asks for help investigating the murder of a former student by a previously unknown Muslim extremist sect called the Black Legion. The young man died carrying information about the group's terrorist activities, including an immediate plan to attack the United States.

In Europe, Bourne's investigation of the Black Legion turns into one of the deadliest and most tangled operations of his double life-the pursuit of the leader of a murderous terrorist group with roots in the darkest days of World War II.

      

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Fever Dream
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
A Pendergast Thriller (8th in series)

Yesterday, Special Agent Pendergast still mourned the loss of his beloved wife, Helen, who died in a tragic accident in Africa twelve years ago.

Today, he discovers she was murdered.

Tomorrow, he will learn her most guarded secrets, leaving him to wonder: Who was the woman I married? Why was she murdered? And, above all … Who murdered her?

Revenge is not sweet: It is essential.

      

Important Note: Any prices mentioned above were correct 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.

This Week's Bestselling Mystery and Suspense Television and Film on DVD (120801)

Here is this week's list of the top bestselling mystery and suspense television and film on DVD available from Amazon.com.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is frequently updated, 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 US Poster for Lawless

A new US poster for the film Lawless has been released by the studio (right; click for larger image). The tagline: "When the law became corrupt, outlaws became heroes."

Lawless tells the true story of the infamous Bondurant Brothers: bootlegging siblings who made a run for the American Dream in Prohibition-era Virginia. Inspired by true-life tales of author Matt Bondurant's family in his novel The Wettest County In The World, the loyalty of three brothers — played by Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, and Jason Clarke — is put to the test against the backdrop of the nation's most notorious crime wave.

Directed by John Hillcoat from an adapted screenplay by Nick Cave, Lawless opens in theaters August 31st, 2012. Watch a trailer for the film below.

Total Recall Opens in Theaters August 3rd, 2012

The futuristic action thriller Total Recall opens in theaters this Friday, August 3rd.

A remake — or maybe a reimagination — of the 1990 film of the same title, both loosely based on the Philip K. Dick short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale", the film stars Colin Farrell as Doug Quaid, who visits a company that provides clients with artificially implanted memories. Before the procedure begins, however, it is discovered that Quaid may not be who he says — or even thinks — he is. Now on the run, without knowing who he can trust, he tries to unravel the secrets of his own mind while fighting competing international interests out to kill him.

Total Recall is directed by Len Wiseman from a screenplay by Mark Bomback, James Vanderbilt, and Kurt Wimmer.

Rather than repost the trailer here — you can see it on one of our previous posts — we thought we'd embed a very entertaining look at the special effects behind one of the hovercar chases in the film.

James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux Mysteries Optioned for Television

Hutch Parker, who has a first look deal with Fox, has optioned the "Dave Robicheaux" series of crime novels by James Lee Burke with the intention of developing the character for cable television.

There have been two previous attempts to bring the Louisiana sheriff's deputy to the screen: Heaven's Prisoners (the second book in the series) in 1996 starring Alec Baldwin; and In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead (the sixth book in the series) in 2009 starring Tommy Lee Jones. The latter was arguably more successful than the former, but neither sparked much interest with viewers. Which is really quite a shame, since Dave Robicheaux is one of the most memorable characters in crime fiction.

Burke introduced the character in 1987 in The Neon Rain (details below). He continues to write the series to this day, with the most recent, Creole Belle, being published last month.

(Related article: Deadline.)

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The Neon Rain
James Lee Burke
A Dave Robicheaux Mystery

Detective Dave Robicheaux has fought too many battles: in Vietnam, with killers and hustlers, with police brass, and with the bottle. Lost without his wife's love, Robicheaux's haunted soul mirrors the intensity and dusky mystery of New Orleans' French Quarter — the place he calls home, and the place that nearly destroys him when he becomes involved in the case of a young prostitute whose body is found in a bayou. Thrust into the world of drug lords and arms smugglers, Robicheaux must face down a subterranean criminal world and come to terms with his own bruised heart in order to survive.