A Dead Red Oleander by R. P. Dahlke is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature A Dead Red Oleander by R. P. Dahlke 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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A Dead Red Oleander
R. P. Dahlke
A Lalla Bains Mystery
Publisher: Dead Bear Publishing

This is the third mystery in this series.

When a late in the season emergency forces Lalla Bains to accept a greenhorn ag pilot for her dad's cropdusting business, she sighs in relief . After all, he comes highly recommended, his physical is spotless, and with a name like Dewey Treat, what could possibly go wrong?

Then her quirky relatives arrive from Texas and things go south in a hurry: Dewey Treat drops dead, his tearful widow claims he was murdered, clobbers Sherriff Caleb Stone with his own gun, and makes a run for it. Lalla, convinced the widow is innocent, sets out to prove it — against the express wishes of fiancé Caleb Stone.

Feds, local law, suspicious ag-pilots, nutso relatives, and her daddy's new sidekick, Bruce the goat, make life a living hell for Lalla. Will her nosey nature solve the crime and save the day? Or put them all in mortal danger?

  

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.

New Poster for Homeland Season 2

Last week we featured the first trailer for the second season of Homeland. Today we have the first poster (right; click for larger image). The tagline: "The obsession continues".

Claire Danes stars as CIA operative Carrie Mathison, who believes that a former Marine officer (Damian Lewis), missing for eight years in Afghanistan, might have come home a traitor.

The second season of Homeland premieres on Sunday, September 30th at 10 PM (ET/PT) on Showtime.

Review: Deadly Politics by Maggie Sefton

A Mysterious Review of …

Deadly Politics by Maggie Sefton. A Molly Malone Mystery.

Review summary: This solidly written murder mystery/thriller features a large cast of characters, led by the strongly developed Molly Malone, a Washington D.C. insider who knows what happens behind the scenes and uses that knowledge to investigate the death of her niece. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Deadly Politics
Maggie Sefton
A Molly Malone Mystery
Midnight Ink (August 2012)

Publisher synopsis: Molly Malone was driven from Washington, D.C., by political back-stabbing, scandals, and personal heartbreak. But now she’s starting a new life in the one place she swore she’d never come back to.

When Molly’s only Washington job prospect falls through, her politico niece, Karen, sets her up with a position in the office of a freshman senator. As the former wife of a congressman, Molly is alarmed to hear that Karen is having an affair with her boss, congressional chief of staff Jed Molinoff. Just days later, Molly finds Karen shot to death. Discovering that Molinoff has ransacked Karen’s apartment, Molly investigates further … and finds herself in the crosshairs of a shadowy political group that’s killing anyone who gets in its way.

  

This Week's Bestselling Mystery and Suspense Audiobooks (120820)

Here is this week's list of the top ten bestselling mystery and suspense audiobooks (books on CD).

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.

Telemystery: Finn & Sawyer, the Classic Characters as Investigators in New Orleans

Here is some news we missed from late last week … ABC has ordered a pilot script for Finn & Sawyer, a contemporary update of the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, based on characters created by Mark Twain. The two characters will meet in while in their 20s and form an investigation firm in New Orleans. (THR mentions that the logline includes the descriptive adjective "steampunk", but that's hard to reconcile with the term "contemporary".) Jason Richman and David Zabel (Detroit 1-8-7) will co-write the screenplay.

In the same THR article, a second mystery-themed pilot script has also been ordered by the network, Gothica, featuring a modern woman in San Francisco, who is led into a world of the supernatural by the enigmatic — and presumably literary — Dorian Gray.

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The Complete Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain

"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" are the best known adventures of Mark Twain's famous characters — but therir adventures didn't stop with those books. This collection, along with Twain's best known Sawyer / Finn books, features two other novels with the popular characters, "Tom Sawyer Abroad" and "Tom Sawyer Detective".

    

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120820)

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.

Wallander Series 3, New This Week on All Regions Blu-ray Disc

Earlier today we posted the new television crime drama series being released this week on DVD and Blu-ray disc.

However it seems we missed one.

We have in our notes that the third season/series of Wallander is being released on September 25th. And apparently it still is … on DVD for Region 1, which includes the US and Canada.

But then we noticed that the Blu-ray disc format of the season is being released this week in an "all regions" version.

Wallander is based on a character created by crime novelist Henning Mankell. Included on this third season release are three episodes from the series:

"An Event in Autumn": Wallander moves into a dream home with his new girlfriend. But his happiness is shattered when the skeleton of a girl is discovered in the garden. Wallander must try to get his new life back on track by finding her killer, but the case is not as cold as he thinks. Based on the 2004 short story "Händelse om hösten", which to our knowledge has never been translated into English.

"The Dogs of Riga": After two Eastern European corpses are washed ashore on a raft in Ystad, Wallander travels to Latvia on the hunt for the killers. Thrown into a cold, alien world of police surveillance and lies, Wallander soon finds himself entangled in a web of corruption with no one to trust. Adapted from the second book in the series, originally published as Hundarna i Riga in 1992 and released in the US as The Dogs of Riga.

"Before the Frost": A friend of Wallander's daughter comes begging for his help but then disappears. Meanwhile, an elderly woman's body is found cremated in a shallow grave. Killed by a seemingly religious obsessive, Wallander must catch the culprit before he strikes again. Adapted from the 2002 mystery Innan frosten, which was published in the US as Before the Frost, this novel features Wallander's daughter, Linda, a new graduate from the police academy, as the lead character.

Telemystery: The Closer, Don Matteo, NCIS, NCIS Los Angeles, Perry Mason, and Revenge, 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 six series being released this week.

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The Closer
Season Seven

Kyra Sedgwick stars as Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, a top-notch investigator who has put some of Los Angeles' most brutal killers behind bars in this crime drama that just concluded its series run on TNT.

With her keen investigative instincts and brilliant interrogation techniques, Brenda often closes her cases by eliciting a confession or cornering a suspect through sometimes-questionable methods. Now, her career may be on the line as a result of her frequently unorthodox methods, and her tactics are coming under the scrutiny of the LAPD's new Chief of Police, who is on the verge of announcing an extensive reorganization that could spell the end of Major Crimes … which, not coincidentally, is the title of the spin-off from this series.

This final season of The Closer began last summer, aired a handful of episodes during the 2011 holiday season, and then concluded this past summer.

  

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Don Matteo
Set 1

Terence Hill stars as Don Matteo, a thoroughly ordinary Catholic priest with an extraordinary ability to read people and solve crimes. He's a parish priest who never met an unjustly accused person he didn't want to help. In fact he never met anyone marginalized he didn't want to help: the elderly the homeless the immigrant the unemployed.

He sees them all as he bicycles along the streets and through the countryside of his parish. He's a hometown boy who was baptized and ordained in Gubbio and is beloved by just about everyone in this stunning Italian mountain village. His easygoing manner endears him to people making it easy for them to reveal their secrets when they get into trouble.

His friend and chess partner is policeman Marshal Cecchini who slips him information about new cases much to the chagrin of the police chief who isn't at all thrilled about the collaboration. But he's in agreement with Don Matteo about one thing: the importance of justice being served.

The episodes in this series are in Italian with English subtitles.

Also being released this week: Don Matteo Set 2. The two sets together include all 16 episodes of the first season of the series.

  

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NCIS
Season Nine

Mark Harmon stars as Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) in this CBS crime drama.

With liberal doses of humor, it's a show that focuses on the sometimes complex and always amusing dynamics of a team of special agents forced to work together in high-stress situations.

From murder and espionage to terrorism and stolen submarines, these special agents travel the globe to investigate all crimes with Navy or Marine Corps ties.

This ninth season of the series originally aired from September 2011 through May 2012. The tenth season will premiere on Tuesday, September 25th at 8 PM (ET/PT).

      

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NCIS: Los Angeles
Season Three

Chris O'Donnell stars as Special Agent "G" Callen and LL Cool J as his partner, Special Agent Sam Hanna in this west coast-based spin-off of NCIS.

Set in the high stakes world of the Office of Special Projects (OSP), a division of NCIS that is charged with apprehending dangerous and elusive criminals that pose a threat to the nation's security, these agents assume false identities and utilize the most advanced technology. This team of highly trained agents goes deep undercover, putting their lives on the line in the field to bring down their targets.

This third season of the series originally aired from September 2011 through May 2012. The fourth season will premiere on Tuesday, September 25th at 9 PM (ET/PT) following the tenth season premiere of NCIS.

      

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Perry Mason
Season Seven (V1)

Perry Mason (played by Raymond Burr) is an attorney who specializes in defending seemingly indefensible cases.

With the aid of his secretary Della Street and investigator Paul Drake, he often finds that by digging deeply into the facts, startling facts can be revealed.

Often relying on his outstanding courtroom skills, he often tricks or traps people into unwittingly admitting their guilt.

This DVD set includes the first half of the seventh season, which originally aired on CBS from September 1964 through January 1965.

  

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Revenge
Season One

Beneath the luxurious lifestyle of the Hamptons, lies a dark, dirty secret and a twisted tale of passion, suspense, and ultimate redemption.

Enter the alluring world of the rich and ruthless. Wealth, beauty, and power define the residents of New York's most exclusive community, but one woman will stop at nothing to exact revenge from those who ruined her father's life.

Witness Emily Thorne's (Emily VanCamp) brilliantly vindictive plot against Victoria Grayson (Madeleine Stowe), the reigning queen of the Hamptons, and all who destroyed her family. However, even the best-laid plans can unravel in the wake of an unexpected love triangle between Emily, the son of her greatest nemesis, and a forgotten face from her past.

This first season of the series, featuring a murder mystery storyline, aired on ABC from September 2011 through May 2012. The second season premieres on Sunday, September 30th at 9 PM (ET/PT).

      

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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.

Rules of Lying by Stephie Smith is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Rules of Lying by Stephie Smith 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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Rules of Lying
Stephie Smith
A Jane Dough Mystery
Publisher: Wentworth Publishing

Lies, lies, too many lies … Jane Dough washes her hands of her wacky family’s deceptive ways. But when a disastrous situation with her homeowners’ association threatens Jane’s newfound security, and her family pumps up the pressure for her to sell her home, Jane reverts to family misbehavior. She blurts out a lie that she’s advertising for a husband to help her out of her jam. It’s just one little lie to get everyone off her back, so no harm done, right?

Wrong! Someone runs a Husband Wanted ad in Jane’s name, and now she’s stuck with the consequences of her lie, even though she has no intention of getting married. Meanwhile, there’s that little business of losing her property if she doesn’t bring it into conformance before the deadline, and with every step forward, she takes two back. And one is a misstep that leads her smack into the middle of a murder.

Either Jane is the unluckiest girl in the world or bad luck is getting good help. Surely not from Mark and Sue, her two best friends, or from the drop-dead gorgeous doctor who comes bearing gifts. And that sexy new neighbor, a hunk of a Texan cowboy, must be on her side. It’s a shame she can’t tell the truth about what’s really going on, but that doesn’t give everyone else the right to lie, does it?

Well, maybe it does. Or maybe not. Or maybe Jane just doesn’t know the rules … of lying.

  

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.

Absent Light by Eve Isherwood is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Absent Light by Eve Isherwood 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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Absent Light
Eve Isherwood
Publisher: Accent Press

Helen Powers was once a scenes of crimes officer for the West Midlands Police. It’s four years since the case, involving the death of a young teenage girl, shattered her career. In an attempt to rebuild her life, she now works as a portrait photographer.

But the past is not so easily left behind …

After a series of inexplicable and vicious attacks on her, Helen fears that someone is out to take revenge. For Helen, however, it's only the start of something more personal and sinister.

Desperate to confront her demons and redeem herself in the face of a formidable adversary, Helen swiftly finds that neither time nor the elements are on her side …

  

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.

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale is Today's Kindle Daily Deal

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale as today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal.

The deal price of $1.99 is valid only for today, Monday, August 20, 2012.

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Midnight in Austenland
Shannon Hale
Bloomsbury

When Charlotte Kinder treats herself to a two-week vacation at Austenland, she happily leaves behind her ex-husband and his delightful new wife, her ever-grateful children, and all the rest of her real life in America. She dons a bonnet and stays at a country manor house that provides an immersive Austen experience, complete with gentleman actors who cater to the guests' Austen fantasies.

Everyone at Pembrook Park is playing a role, but increasingly, Charlotte isn't sure where roles end and reality begins. And as the parlor games turn a little bit menacing, she finds she needs more than a good corset to keep herself safe. Is the brooding Mr. Mallery as sinister as he seems? What is Miss Gardenside's mysterious ailment? Was that an actual dead body in the secret attic room? And-perhaps of the most lasting importance — could the stirrings in Charlotte's heart be a sign of real-life love?

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.

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for August 20, 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:

A C E G N O R S W

In 1985 James Crumley introduced PI Milton Chester "Milo" Milodragovitch in this mystery, 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!

This Week's Bestselling Large Print Mystery and Suspense Books (120819)

Here is this week's list of the top ten bestselling mystery and suspense books in large print format 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.

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120819)

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.

Review: Oregon Hill by Howard Owen

A Mysterious Review of …

Oregon Hill by Howard Owen.

Review summary: This mystery is presented in a conversational manner from the perspective of the lead character, a reporter with an eye for detail and not shy about profferring commentary of what he sees. The narrative is exceptionally well written, though the murder plot itself is a bit derivative. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Oregon Hill
Howard Owen
The Permanent Press (July 2012)

Publisher synopsis: Willie Black has squandered a lot of things in his life - his liver, his lungs, a couple of former wives and a floundering daughter can all attest to his abuse. He's lucky to be employed, having managed to drink and smart-talk his way out of a nice, cushy job covering (and partying with) the politicians down at the capitol.

Now, he's back on the night cops beat, right where he started when he came to work for the Richmond paper almost 30 years ago. The thing Willie's always had going for him, though, all the way back to his hardscrabble days as a mixed-race kid on Oregon Hill, where white was the primary color and fighting was everyone's favorite leisure pastime, was grit. His mother, the drug-addled Peggy, gave him that if nothing else. He never backed down then, and he shows no signs of changing.

When a co-ed at the local university where Willie's daughter is a perpetual student is murdered, her headless body found along the South Anna River, the hapless alleged killer is arrested within days. Everyone but Willie seems to think: Case Closed. But Willie, against the orders and advice of his bosses at the paper, the police and just about everyone else, doesn't think the case is solved at all. He embarks on a one-man crusade to do what he's always done: get the story.

On the way, Willie runs afoul of David Junior Shiflett, a nightmare from his youth who's now a city cop, and awakens another dark force, one everyone thought disappeared a long time ago. And a score born in the parking lot of an Oregon Hill beer joint 40 years ago will finally be settled.

The truth is out there. Willie Black's going to dig it out or die trying.