Review: July Jitters by Ron Roy

A Mysterious Review of …

July Jitters by Ron Roy. A Calendar Mystery.

Review summary: This is an entertaining entry in this series of early chapter reader mysteries, though there is a significant plot disconnect that young readers may pick up on, especially if they follow along with the kids on their adventure using the map provided. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

July Jitters
Ron Roy
A Calendar Mystery
Random House (June 2012)

Publisher synopsis: The mayor of Green Lawn is having a special Fourth of July contest; the person whose pet has the best Independence Day costume gets to be mayor for a day! Bradly, Brian, Nate, and Lucy transform Polly the pony into Thomas Jefferson and Pal the dog into the Declaration of Independence. But when the pet parade rolls around, the animals are nowhere to be found! Maybe they have stage fright. Can the kids find their dressed-up pets and calm them down before the Fourth of July fun begins?

      

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120908)

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.

MystereBooks: This Week's Update of Kindle Crime Fiction Priced $2.99 or Less

Every month Amazon publishes a list of 100 Kindle books priced $3.99 or less. We thought we'd take that idea and improve on it, publishing a list of 100 Kindle mystery books priced $2.99 or less and updating it every week!

Here is our general criteria for selecting titles to include: books from major or specialty publishers of crime fiction and those written by authors familiar to us. There are far more than 100 to choose from, so we use our best judgment to narrow it down.

And just a reminder … as we add new titles, older ones are removed from the list. These books aren't likely to be repeated, so we encourage you to check in frequently!

Just a few notes before we get to today's update.

• We've mentioned it before but it's worth repeating: If you see a title on the list that interests you, don't wait to buy it! While about half of the books we list are normally priced $2.99 or less, the remaining titles have higher list prices and are temporarily discounted by the publisher to $2.99 or less. We always caution you to check the price before you purchase, since these latter books can — and do — revert to their list price at any time. Fifteen such titles were affected this past week! Fortunately, we have Fifteen "new" books to replace them.

• With respect to the above, here are three newly discounted titles that we don't expect to be that way very long: Thirteen Hours by Deon Meyer (Atlantic Monthly Press); Grift Sense by James Swain (Ballantine), and Paris to Die For by Maxine Kenneth (Grand Central).

• Poisoned Pen Press once again this past week lowered the price on four more mysteries, two "Robert Amiss" titles by Ruth Dudley Edwards and two "Andreas Kaldis" titles by Jeffrey Siger. Use this link to see all the books this publisher has lowered to $2.99 or less.

• Thomas & Mercer has lowered the price on a number of mysteries and thrillers by Vincent Zandri. The author has a new title coming out later this year, the fifth in his "Dick Moonlight" series.

And now on to our update! Below are listed the new $2.99 or less titles we added today; click on the cover or title for more information or to purchase the Kindle edition.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice! We strongly urge you to confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase is the price of the book.

Corridors of Death by Ruth Dudley Edwards.
A Robert Amiss Mystery (1st).

The Saint Valentine's Day Murders by Ruth Dudley Edwards.
A Robert Amiss Mystery (2nd).

Paris To Die For by Maxine Kenneth.

Chasing Shadows by C. J. Lyons.
A Shadow Ops Thriller (1st).

Lost in Shadows by C. J. Lyons.
A shadow Ops Thriller (2nd).

Thirteen Hours by Deon Meyer.
A Benny Griessel Mystery (2nd).

Murder in Mykonos by Jeffrey Siger.
An Andreas Kaldis Mystery (1st).

Assassins of Athens by Jeffrey Siger.
An Andreas Kaldis Mystery (2nd).

Grift Sense by James Swain.
A Tony Valentine Mystery (1st).

The Forsaken by Estevan Vega.

Moonlight Rises by Vincent Zandri.
A Dick Moonlight Mystery (2nd).

Godchild by Vincent Zandri.
A Jack Marconi Mystery (2nd).

The Innocent by Vincent Zandri.
A Jack Marconi Mystery (3rd).

The Concrete Pearl by Vincent Zandri.
An Ava Harrison Mystery (1st).

The Remains by Vincent Zandri.

 

A Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter is Today's Fourth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature A Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter as today's fourth 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.

— ♦ —

A Hidden Fire
Elizabeth Hunter
An Elemental Mystery
Publisher: CreateSpace

A phone call from an old friend sets mysterious book researcher Giovanni Vecchio back on the path of a mystery that has eluded him for centuries. Little does he suspect a young librarian holds the key to an ancient secret, nor could he expect the danger Beatrice De Novo would attract.

Now both will follow a twisted maze leading from the archives of a university library, through the fires of Renaissance Florence, and toward a passion that could destroy them both.

      

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.

Buyer's Remorse by Traci Tyne Hilton is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Buyer's Remorse by Traci Tyne Hilton 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.

— ♦ —

Buyer's Remorse
Traci Tyne Hilton
A Mitzy Neuhaus Mystery
Publisher: CreateSpace

This is the third mystery in this series.

Mitzy Neuhaus had an easier time selling her condo before the mystery buyer "bought it" on her patio. Mitzy stumbled over the body and knew she had to get involved in the case — if only because the corpse was a dead ringer for herself.

At first it seemed like a clear case of mistaken identity and Mitzy feared the Mafia wasn't done with her yet. But digging into the life of the dead buyer uncovered a peculiar little dress shop where nothing added up.

Can Mitzy untangle the mystery before she ends up with her own case of buyer's remorse?

  

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 Friday Edition by Betta Ferrendelli is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Friday Edition by Betta Ferrendelli 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.

— ♦ —

The Friday Edition
Betta Ferrendelli
A Samantha Church Mystery
Publisher: Betta Ferrendelli

This is the first mystery in this series.

Christmas is coming to Denver, Colorado, but it isn't only snow that's falling.

A beautiful young woman, who also happens to be a Truman County Assistant DA, tumbles from her apartment balcony to her death on Christmas Eve.

The incident is ruled a suicide, but the DA's sister, newspaper reporter Samantha Church, isn't buying it.

Feverishly Samantha throws herself into finding out what really happened to her sister. She pursues her sister's killers, maneuvering through a minefield of intrigue deliberately set out to divert her from the truth. She invariably stumbles when confronted by the inescapable specter of a greater enemy: the alcohol dependency that has already cost her the respect of her peers, and, worse, custody of her daughter.

Samantha must summon the courage to face not only a cartel of criminals, but also her own demons. Physically threatened and betrayed, she nearly defeats herself through her own insecurities and fears. She not only must summon the courage to get beyond her own shortcomings, but she must work quickly to beat her nemesis — a reporter at the major metropolitan daily newspaper, who is also in close pursuit of the developing story.

Can Samantha ultimately prevail, write the biggest story of her career, and finally begin to change her life before it is too late?

  

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.

Two Novels of Suspense by Michael A. Smith are Today's Featured Free MystereBooks

MystereBooks is pleased to feature two novels by Michael A. Smith as today's free mystery ebooks.

These titles wer 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.

— ♦ —

Secrets
Michael A. Smith
Publisher: Michael A. Smith

This novel was first published by St. Martin's Press in 1980.

Frank Montgomery and his family love their life in the placid suburb of Lake View. Members of the seven households on Horseshoe Drive form an extended family. Like any family, they occasionally play practical jokes on each other. But the harmless pranks suddenly turn ugly, even obscene. Feelings become heated, alliances form, fingers are pointed — until a brutal murder ends the life of the prime suspect. Frank digs deep into his neighbors' lives and discovers that motives for the murder abound.

  

— ♦ —

Legacy of the Lake
Michael A. Smith
Publisher: Michael A. Smith

This novel of suspense was first published by Avon in 1980.

Jack Olsen, a down-on-his luck former cop, seeks inner healing at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. Out fishing one day, he witnesses a deliberate collision that leaves one man dead. Hired by the elderly victim's companion to investigate the so-called accident, Jack discovers another world beneath the surface of paradise — one characterized by organized crime, political corruption, drugs and gambling. Working with Kate Carter, the new love of his life, Jack follows a money trail littered with greed, obsession and hate. With one final throw of the dice, it appears he's turned up snake eyes.

  

Important Note: These books were 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.

Sony Options Trio of Spy Thrillers by Olen Steinhauer

Sony Pictures has optioned the three books of the "Milo Weaver" series of thrillers by Olen Steinhauer. The first of these, The Tourist, is being adapted by Matt Corman and Chris Ord (Covert Affairs). Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith) will direct.

Milo Weaver is a former "tourist", an undercover agent for the CIA on assignment to anywhere and everywhere around the globe. But do CIA agents ever retire … at least in spy thrillers? Of course not. Originally published in 2009, The Tourist was followed by The Nearest Exit (in 2010, winner of The Hammett Prize for best crime novel of the year) and An American Spy, which came out earlier this year.

— ♦ —

The Tourist
Olen Steinhauer
A Milo Weaver Thriller (1st in series)

Milo Weaver used to be a "tourist" for the CIA — an undercover agent with no home, no identity — but he's since retired from the field to become a middle-level manager at the CIA's New York headquarters. He's acquired a wife, a daughter, and a brownstone in Brooklyn, and he's tried to leave his old life of secrets and lies behind.

However, when the arrest of a long-sought-after assassin sets off an investigation into one of Milo's oldest colleagues and exposes new layers of intrigue in his old cases, he has no choice but to go back undercover and find out who's holding the strings once and for all.

      

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.

Telemystery: TNT Orders Three Pilots, including King and Maxwell, based on Characters Created by David Baldacci

Last summer CBS was interested in developing a series project based on characters created by David Baldacci. Today we're learning that TNT has picked up the project (from CBS Television Studios), ordering a pilot for King and Maxwell, a potential series featuring private investigators Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, who use their experience as former secret service agents to give them an edge in solving their cases. Baldacci will serve as a consultant for the pilot.

TNT also ordered pilots for two other dramas today, that may be of interest.

Legends — based on the book Legends by Robert Littell — centers on a deep-cover operative named Martin Odum, who has an uncanny ability to transform himself into a different person for each job. But his own identity comes into question when a mysterious stranger suggests that Martin isn’t who he thinks he is.

Trooper — another project originally set up at CBS — is a procedural about a recently divorced female state trooper who is as unconventional at work as she is at home raising her three kids. Her partner on the job is a widowed father who has a much more by-the-book approach to policing.

New Banner-Sized Poster for Elementary

A few days ago we had the character posters for CBS's upcoming crime drama Elementary; now we have a new banner-sized poster (below; click for larger image).

Set in contemporary New York City — hence the tagline, "New Holmes. New Watson. New York" — Jonny Lee Miller stars as detective Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson, who together crack the NYPD's most impossible cases.

Elementary premieres on Thursday, September 27th at 10 PM (ET/PT).

Wallander Season 3 Premieres This Sunday, September 9th on Masterpiece Mystery!

Just a quick reminder that the first of three new episodes of Wallander airs this Sunday, September 9th on PBS's Masterpiece Mystery!

Though all the previous episodes in this series have been adapted from the novels by Henning Mankell, the first episode of this season, "An Event in Autumn", is adapted from the 2004 short story "Händelse om hösten", which to our knowledge has never been translated into English. A pregnant woman leaps to her death from the side of a ferry. Or was she pushed? The routine case barely disturbs Wallander’s newly blissful life with Vanja (Saskia Reeves). But the happy couple discovers the decade-old corpse of a murdered woman on their property. With Wallander’s work now getting too close to home, he follows the leads of two investigations that become increasingly entangled. On top of it, tragedy strikes one of his colleagues and Wallander blames himself — with good reason.

The second episode of the season, "The Dogs of Riva" (based on the second novel in the series), airs on Sunday, September 16th, with the final episode of the season, "Before the Frost" (based on the first novel to feature Wallander's daughter as a newly graduated police officer), airs on Sunday, September 23rd.

All three episodes will be released on DVD on September 25th. An "all regions" Blu-ray disc is already available.

Watch a preview of "An Event in Autumn" below.

This Week's Bestselling Mystery and Suspense Television and Film on Demand (120907)

Here is this week's list of the top bestselling mystery and suspense television and film videos available to watch or download from Amazon Instant.

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.

The Last of Sheila, Available Again on DVD

This past June we reported on plans to remake one of our favorite films from the 1970s, The Last of Sheila. At the time we mentioned that getting a copy of the DVD was difficult … but not any more!

This week Warner Bros. made available the film as a manufacture-on-demand (MOD) release; you can get a copy from Amazon. (It's also available on Amazon Instant, to rent or own.)

The film stars James Coburn as Clinton Greene, a movie producer, who assembles, Agatha Christie-style, a group of guests — played by Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, James Mason, Ian McShane, Joan Hackett, and Raquel Welch — aboard his yacht for a week-long Mediterranean cruise. Once underway, he announces that their mini-vacation is actually a game in which they must discover everyone else's secret while protecting their own. And one of those secrets is the identity of who was driving the car that killed his wife in a hit-and-run accident years ago. It isn't long before Clinton is murdered, and the game turns into one in which the guests must determined which one of them is a killer.

If you've never seen The Last of Sheila, we urge you to check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Amazon Publishing Launches James Bond Store

Amazon Publishing announced today the launch of its James Bond store, featuring all-new editions of the 14 books in the series written by Ian Fleming.

Fleming created possibly the world's most famous secret agent, James Bond. Modern classics that transcend genre, Fleming's novels are taut, tense, and effortlessly stylish, and have made the series a touchstone for a generation of readers and writers.

These books now feature stunning new cover art, and have been restored to the original text from the editions published between 1953 and 1966. Fleming's travel and wartime experience lent authority to everything he wrote and may be attributed to the Bond novels selling more than one hundred million copies worldwide.

These new editions will publish on October 16th, 2012 in both trade paperback and Kindle formats, and are available to pre-order now. Here is a list of the titles, with their original UK publication dates:

Casino Royale, which introduced the character, and was finally adapted into film in 2006 in Daniel Craig's first appearance as Bond (1953); Live and Let Die, the film adaptation of which introduced Roger Moore as Bond (1954), Moonraker (1955), Diamonds are Forever (1956), From Russia, With Love (1957), Dr. No, the first of the books to be adapted for film, starring Sean Connery as Bond (1958), Goldfinger (1959), For Your Eyes Only (1960), Thunderball (1961), The Spy Who Loved Me (1962), On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the only film adaptation to star George Lazenby as Bond (1963), You Only Live Twice (1964), The Man with the Golden Gun (1965), and "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights", which are actually two short stories, published posthumously together in one volume; the film adaptation of the latter featured Timothy Dalton in the first of his two appearances as Bond (1966).