New Poster for Fringe Season 5

A new poster for the fifth — and final — season of Fringe has been released by Fox (right; click for larger image). The tagline: "Fight for the future."

Set in Boston, the FBI's Fringe Division started when Special Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) enlisted institutionalized "fringe" scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble) and his globe-trotting, jack-of-all-trades son Peter (Joshua Jackson), to help in an investigation of an airline disaster that defied human logic. After the defining case was solved and furthermore revealed to be one of a series of unusual incidents linked together, the unlikely trio — supervised by Special Agent Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick) and assisted by Astrid Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole) — was formed.

Created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the fifth season of Fringe premieres on Fox on Friday, September 28th at 9 PM (ET/PT). Watch a promo for the season below.

Telemystery: FX Orders Pilot Adapted from The Strain Trilogy of Thrillers

FX Networks has ordered a pilot for The Strain, adapted from the trilogy of thrillers by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. The authors will co-write the script.

This is the second telemystery news item of the week for del Toro. Two days ago we learned he will executive produce an adaptation of The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death by Corinne May Botz for HBO.

FX has two other pilot projects in development: The Bridge, based on the Swedish/Danish crime drama Bron|Broen; and the comedy/drama Bronx Warrants, centered on a group of detectives assigned to arrest individuals with outstanding warrants.

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The Strain
Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
The Strain Trilogy (1st in series)

A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK and is on its way across the tarmac, when it suddenly stops dead. All window shades are pulled down. All lights are out. All communication channels have gone quiet. Crews on the ground are lost for answers, but an alert goes out to the CDC. Dr. Eph Goodweather, head of their Canary project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats, gets the call and boards the plane. What he finds makes his blood run cold.

In a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem, a former professor and survivor of the Holocaust named Abraham Setrakian knows something is happening. And he knows the time has come, that a war is brewing …

So begins a battle of mammoth proportions as the vampiric virus that has infected New York begins to spill out into the streets. Eph, who is joined by Setrakian and a motley crew of fighters, must now find a way to stop the contagion and save his city — a city that includes his wife and son — before it is too late.

      

See also the two other books in this trilogy: The Fall (Amazon / iTunes / Kobo); and The Night Eternal (Amazon / iTunes / Kobo).

New Poster, Trailer for Remake of Pusher

A new poster for the crime thriller Pusher has been released by the studio (right; click for larger image). The tagline: "Never cross the line."

Pusher is an English-language remake of Nicolas Winding Refn's 1996 Danish film of the same title. (Refn went on to film two sequels.)

The storyline is a familiar one, used with minor variations in any number of films: Richard Coyle stars as a drug dealer, who grows increasingly desperate over the course of a week after a botched deal lands him in the merciless clutches of a ruthless crime lord. The more desperate his behavior, the more isolated he becomes until there is nothing left standing between him and the bullet his debtors intend to fire his way.

Directed by Luis Prieto from a screenplay by Matthew Read, and based on a story by Nicolas Winding Refn, Pusher will be in limited theater release beginning October 26th, and available as a video-on-demand two days later. Watch a UK trailer for the film below.

Lucy Cruz and the Chupacabra Killings by Steven Torres is Today's Sixth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Lucy Cruz and the Chupacabra Killings by Steven Torres as today's sixth 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.

— ♦ —

Lucy Cruz and the Chupacabra Killings
Steven Torres
A Lucy Cruz Mystery
Publisher: Steven Torres

This first in a new series is by the author of the Precinct Puerto Rico mysteries.

Photojournalist Lucy Cruz, young, beautiful, talented, and poor, spends her nights sitting outside a farm waiting for El Chupacabra — Puerto Rico's legendary livestock killing beast. The group that hired her want only one clear photo of the animal, but what her camera captures is not one animal killing another — it's murder. When she hands police her photos, she's thrown into a fight for her life against a killer who's only getting started.

When the man she loves is nearly murdered, Lucy races to piece together the clues before the killer's aim improves …

  

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.

Hunted by Richard Pitman and Joe McNally is Today's Fifth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Hunted by Richard Pitman and Joe McNally as today's fifth 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.

— ♦ —

Hunted
Richard Pitman and Joe McNally
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

This is the second mystery in this series written by an ex-jockey and racing journalist.

Eddie Malloy, trying to get his career back on track, finds himself in the gunsights of a cunning killer who is maiming and murdering racing personalities with a zeal and purpose which terrifies the racing world and mystifies the police.

Eddie is convinced the killer has a definitive hit list for these ritual slayings and when he discovers he is high on that list, Eddie knows he has to become the hunter not the hunted.

  

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 Ninth Day by Jamie Freveletti is Today's Fourth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Ninth Day by Jamie Freveletti 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.

— ♦ —

The Ninth Day
Jamie Freveletti
An Emma Caldridge Mystery
Publisher: Harper

This is the third mystery in this series.

When biochemist Emma Caldridge stumbles upon a group of human traffickers, "coyotes", smuggling illegals across the Arizona border, she suddenly finds herself prisoner of the most violent and feared drug lord in Ciudad Juarez. La Valle is ruthless, and his power and influence stretches from Mexico to Chicago. But La Valle is facing a much bigger problem than one American seeing his smuggling operations - a flesh eating toxin has developed on his prized marijuana leaves, and once touched or even inhaled, it kills the victim in just nine painful days. La Valle believes that this contagion is a product of U.S. agents contaminating his leaves in an effort to stop his operations, and he swears to exact his revenge.

Determined to find a cure and to stop La Valle from attacking American cities, Emma desperately searches for clues to help stop this virulent disease. Quick-thinking and bold, Emma will not be bullied by La Valle and his lackeys. She refuses to put any more lives at risk unnecessarily until she can discover an antidote. But when she herself becomes infected, the race is on, and she must find the answer before she reaches the ninth day.

  

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.

City Life by Helen Haught Fanick is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature City Life by Helen Haught Fanick 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.

— ♦ —

City Life
Helen Haught Fanick
Publisher: Helen Haught Fanick

Frank Novak's life is a hectic procession of events, since he's the foremost neighborhood watchdog in San Gabriel, Texas. He thinks at times that things couldn't get any worse for him, but he's wrong. His wife is finding a Holy Roller preacher way too attractive, his camping trailer is stolen, and then his real problems begin — someone is trying to kill him.

The idea of escaping to a reclusive life in the Texas Hill Country begins to seem very appealing; then Monica Cruz enters his life. She works for an agency that helps neighborhoods get organized to fight crime and decay — and she's intelligent, intense, and best of all, interested in Frank.

They make a good team — Frank with his determination to keep his neighborhood clear of problems, and Monica with her knowledge of what works in solving their problems — and her Taurus .38 revolver. Will all this be enough to keep them safe from the residents of the crack house on the corner or the angry man who doesn't care how much pollution he causes in disposing of hazardous waste? They're hoping that it will and that they'll have a life together in spite of the odds.

  

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.

North to Disaster by Jim Craig is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature North to Disaster by Jim Craig 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.

— ♦ —

North to Disaster
Jim Craig
A Johnny Wainwright, Alaskan Mystery
Publisher: Bushak Press

This is the first thriller in this series.

Johnny Wainwright is a bush pilot repo man struggling to make a living in Seward, Alaska. All he wants to do is fly and get by, living a simple life in the Final Frontier. But when he reclaims stolen equipment from remote Johnstone Bay, the trouble begins. Bush airplanes, murdering thieves and a beautiful Learjet pilot fill Johnny’s days during a life and death struggle in Prince William Sound.

  

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.

Rumors of Savages by Carrie Regan is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Rumors of Savages by Carrie Regan 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.

— ♦ —

Rumors of Savages
Carrie Regan
Publisher: Xlibris

It seemed the perfect stunt to save the ailing Adventure Channel. When a famed anthropologist disappears in the middle of a formidable African jungle while searching for a legendary — and reportedly bloodthirsty — "lost tribe", fading star Max Carrington and his bumbling television crew swiftly set off to find him. Their goal: bring him back, alive or dead, documenting every moment along the way for a blockbuster television event.

Back home, their dramatic live video dispatches from the middle of the jungle swiftly become the media sensation of the moment. But when members of the crew start disappearing as well, they realize too late that much more than the network's fortunes are at risk …

  

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.

Mystery Bestsellers for the Week Ending September 21, 2012

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending September 21st, 2012 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

The stand-alone thriller Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn remains a solid number one for the umpteenth week — we're going to have to check how it competes with the Stieg Larsson thrillers in terms of longevity. Two new titles enter the list (position in parentheses).

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(12): Severe Clear
Stuart Woods

A Stone Barrington Mystery (24th in series)

Stone Barrington is called to Bel-Air to oversee an exclusive event that will gather the top echelons of the beau monde: Hollywood starlets, socialites, politicos, billionaires from overseas. It’s a task in which Stone has a personal stake, and one that is made all the more pleasurable — though somewhat more complicated — with the arrivals of two beautiful women with whom he’s intimately acquainted.

But the grand occasion has also attracted a dangerous criminal group with sinister plans. The hunt to find them leads Stone into a complex web of deceit and misdirection, in a world where the intrigues of government intelligence collide with the clandestine machinations of the upper crust. As he draws nearer to his quarry, he realizes that the stakes are higher than anybody could ever imagine … and that the enemies he’s seeking might just be hiding in plain sight.

            

— ♦ —

(13): Low Pressure
Sandra Brown

Bellamy Lyston was only 12 years old when her older sister Susan was killed on a stormy Memorial Day. Bellamy's fear of storms is a legacy of the tornado that destroyed the crime scene along with her memory of what really happened during the day's most devastating moments.

Now, 18 years later, Bellamy has written a sensational, bestselling novel based on Susan's murder. Because the book was inspired by the tragic event that still pains her family, she published it under a pseudonym to protect them from unwanted publicity. But when an opportunistic reporter for a tabloid newspaper discovers that the book is based on fact, Bellamy's identity is exposed along with the family scandal.

Moreover, Bellamy becomes the target of an unnamed assailant who either wants the truth about Susan's murder to remain unknown or, even more threatening, is determined to get vengeance for a man wrongfully accused and punished.

In order to identify her stalker, Bellamy must confront the ghosts of her past, including Dent Carter, Susan's wayward and reckless boyfriend -- and an original suspect in the murder case. Dent, with this and other stains on his past, is intent on clearing his name, and he needs Bellamy's sealed memory to do it. But her safeguarded recollections -once unlocked-pose dangers that neither could foresee and puts both their lives in peril.

As Bellamy delves deeper into the mystery surrounding Susan's slaying, she discovers disturbing elements of the crime which call into question the people she holds most dear. Haunted by partial memories, conflicted over her feelings for Dent, but determined to learn the truth, she won't stop until she reveals Susan's killer.

That is, unless Susan's killer strikes her first …

            

Hitchcock to Open in Limited Release November 2012

Fox Searchlight has announced that its film Hitchcock will open in limited release on November 23rd, 2012, just in time for awards consideration. And there's a teaser poster to accompany the news (right; click for slightly larger version). The tagline … though we're thinking you are already way ahead of us: "Good evening."

The virtually unrecognizable Anthony Hopkins stars as legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock in a film adapted from the book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by Stephen Rebello. Sacha Gervasi directs a screenplay written by John McLaughlin.

— ♦ —

Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho
Stephen Rebello

First released in June 1960, Psycho altered the landscape of horror films forever. But just as compelling as the movie itself is the story behind it.

Stephen Rebello brings to life the creation of one of Hollywood's most iconic films, from the story of Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein, the real-life inspiration for the character of Norman Bates, to Hitchcock's groundbreaking achievements in cinematography, sound, editing, and promotion. Packed with captivating insights from the film's stars, writers, and crewmembers, this book is a riveting and definitive history of a signature Hitchcock cinematic masterpiece.

      

Soho Press to Publish Junior Bender Mysteries by Timothy Hallinan

Soho Press announced today that it has signed a deal with crime novelist Timothy Hallinan to publish the first two books in his comic crime series featuring Junior Bender in hardcover — they were originally self-published as ebooks — as well as publish a third title in the series.

"One of the things I most miss with ebooks is being part of a team, a group of specialists who can all make a unique contribution to the book,
said Hallinan. "I also missed the sheer elegance of the printed book, designed inside and out by talented professionals. And finally, I've loved working with Soho on the Rafferty books, and it made a big difference that they were the publishers for Junior."

Meanwhile, Soho is looking forward to blazing new territory with the Junior Bender books. Says Soho Senior Editor Juliet Grames, "The Junior Bender books are a departure from what we usually publish — international crime fiction, which is how we first came to work with Tim [on his Poke Rafferty thriller series set in Bangkok]. But once I read the manuscript for The Fame Thief I knew we couldn't let this one go, despite our mandate. It was just too great, and the voice was so fresh."

Crashed, the first in the series (more information below), will be published on November 13th. Little Elvises will come out on January 29th, 2013 with the third book in the series, The Fame Thief, publishing on June 4th, 2013. The TV/film adaptation rights have been sold to Lionsgate.

— ♦ —

Crashed
Timothy Hallinan
A Junior Bender Mystery (1st in series)

Junior Bender is a Los Angeles burglar with a magic touch. Since he first started breaking into houses when he was fourteen years old, he's never once been caught. But now, after twenty-two years of an exemplary career, Junior has been blackmailed by Trey Annunziato, one of the most powerful crime bosses in LA, into acting as a private investigator on the set of Trey's porn movie venture, which someone keeps sabotaging. The star Trey has lined up to do all that's unwholesome on camera is Thistle Downing, America's beloved child star, who now lives alone in a drug-induced stupor, destitute and uninsurable. Her starring role will be the scandalous fall-from-grace gossip of rubber-neckers across the country. No wonder Trey needs help keeping the production on track.

Junior knows what he should do — get Thistle out and find her help — but doing the right thing will land him on the wrong side of LA's scariest mob boss. With the help of his precocious twelve-year-old daughter, Rina, and his criminal sidekick, Louie the Lost (an ex-getaway driver), Junior has to figure out a miracle solution.

    

This Week's Bestselling Mystery and Suspense Television and Film on Blu-ray Disc (120920)

Here is this week's list of the top bestselling mystery and suspense television and film Blu-ray discs 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.