The Prophet by Michael Koryta is Today's Kindle Daily Deal

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Prophet by Michael Koryta as today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal.

The deal price of $2.99 is valid only for today, Saturday, March 23, 2013.

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The Prophet
Michael Koryta
Little, Brown

Adam Austin hasn't spoken to his brother in years. When they were teenagers, their sister was abducted and murdered, and their devastated family never recovered. Now Adam keeps to himself, scraping by as a bail bondsman, working so close to the town's criminal fringes that he sometimes seems a part of them.

Kent Austin is the beloved coach of the local high school football team, a religious man and hero in the community. After years of near misses, Kent's team has a shot at the state championship, a welcome point of pride in a town that has had its share of hardships.

Just before playoffs begin, the town and the team are thrown into shock when horrifically, impossibly, another teenage girl is found murdered. As details emerge that connect the crime to the Austin brothers, the two must confront their buried rage and grief-and unite to stop a killer.

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.

Cinemystery: Richard Parker's Thriller Scare Me Optioned for Film

Relativity Media has optioned the soon-to-be-published psychological thriller Scare Me by Richard Parker for film. Exhibit A, Angry Robot's new crime fiction imprint, will publish the book next month and its founder, Marc Gascoigne, broke the news on Twitter. Wentworth Miller (Stoker) will write the adapted screenplay.

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Scare Me
Richard Parker

When did you last Google yourself?

Wealthy businessman Will Frost gets woken in the middle of the night by an anonymous caller, asking him exactly this.

When Will goes online, he finds a website has been set up in his name, showing photographs of the inside of his home, along with photographs of six houses he's never seen before. In the first of these strange houses, a gruesome murder has already taken place. Will is then told that his own family is in mortal danger.

The only way he can keep them safe is to visit each of the houses on the website in person – before the police discover what has happened there.

Seven houses. Seven gruesome homicides. Seven chances to save his daughter's life …

  

Review: Airtight by David Rosenfelt

A Mysterious Review of …

Airtight by David Rosenfelt.

Review summary: This is a solidly plotted, very exciting thriller that uses two plot devices to ramp up the tension: a clock down to a deadline and a claustrophobic setting. With realistically developed characters on either side of the situation, more similar to each either than either realizes, readers will be anxious to learn how it plays out. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Airtight
David Rosenfelt
Minotaur Books (February 2013)

Publisher synopsis: Judge Daniel Brennan is only days away from achieving a seat on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals bench when he's brutally stabbed to death in his garage. An army of media and law enforcement descend on the case, and thousands of tips pour in from the public. When one tip leads New Jersey policeman Luke Somers to Steven Gallagher, things quickly go wrong, but Luke is instantly glorified for solving the case.

But to one man, Luke is no hero. Chris Gallagher raised his brother, Steven, almost single-handedly, and, certain that Steven is innocent, he won't rest until he sets the record straight. Thanks to Luke's newfound fame, he's an easy man to find, and Chris quickly makes it clear that Luke's own brother will die if Luke refuses to help clear Steven's name. So begins Luke's desperate attempt to find another suspect — any other suspect — in Judge Brennan's death. But Luke's investigation might open the door to powerful forces even more dangerous than Chris Gallagher.

      

MystereBooks: Download The Da Vinci Code for Free and Get the Audible Audiobook for Just 99 Cents

If you haven't yet downloaded your free copy of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, you only have a couple more days to do so … until March 24th, 2013.

And now you can pair that free Kindle ebook with the Audible audiobook for just 99 cents via Amazon's Whispersync for Voice program.

After you've purchased the Kindle ebook, click on the Audible Audio Edition (unabridged) link and you can purchase the audiobook for just 99 cents. Whispersync allows you to seamlessly switch back and forth between the Kindle ebook and the Audible audiobook.

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The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown
A Robert Langdon Thriller

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. Solving the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of da Vinci … clues visible for all to see … and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion — an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and da Vinci, among others. The Louvre curator has sacrificed his life to protect the Priory's most sacred trust: the location of a vastly important religious relic, hidden for centuries.

In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who appears to work for Opus Dei — a clandestine, Vatican-sanctioned Catholic sect believed to have long plotted to seize the Priory's secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's secret — and a stunning historical truth — will be lost forever.

  

Click on the Amazon.com button to check out the special Whispersync offer associated with this title.

Important Note: Any prices and/or special deals 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.

MystereBooks: Five Days of Fear by David Kovach, Available this Month at a Special Price

Every month Amazon releases a new selection of Kindle books priced $3.99 or less.

Today's featured title from the Mystery & Thrillers category is Five Days of Fear by David Kovach. This Kindle book was listed at $1.99 as of the date and time of this post, Friday, March 22, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET, and should be available at this price through the end of the month.

More information about the book is below; if other vendors have priced-matched this title, links to their sites are also shown.

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Five Days of Fear by David Kovach
Publisher: Light Messages

During a family picnic, Jessica Britton's well-ordered world is slammed against a brutal reality and her faith is tested when her mom is kidnapped, her dad is shot, and authorities can find no clues to begin their investigation. Jessica's own anxiety and fear for her mother's life compels her to help FBI Agent Dan Hamilton look for motives and clues that would lead to rescuing her mom.

By chance, clues begin to emerge, and the once floundering investigation speeds to a hectic race against time and criminal minds in a desperate attempt to save Jessica's mom and the lives of many in San Francisco's business district.

  

Important Note: 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.

Cinemystery: Dreamworks Planning Remake of Rebecca

Dreamworks is developing a remake of the classic Alfred Hitchcock film Rebecca, itself based on the novel of romantic suspense by Daphne du Maurier. Nikolaj Arcel is set to direct an adapted screenplay, which is being drafted by Steven Knight.

Rebecca (published in 1938) opens with the line, "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten — a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house's current occupants. With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim's first wife — the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca.

Hitchcock's film came out in 1940 and starred Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter and Joan Fontaine as his young wife. It went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture in 1941, in addition to an Oscar for Best Cinematography. If this remake is produced, the film would likely follow Arcel's next project, an adaptation of Don Winslow's The Power of the Dog. [Deadline]

Telemystery: ABC Announces Summer 2013 Schedule of New and Returning Series

ABC has announced the Summer 2013 premiere dates for its two new — one scripted, one unscripted — and one returning series.

• Rookie Blue Season Four: Thursday, May 23rd at 10 PM (ET/PT).

• Motive Season One: Special premiere episode on Tuesday, May 21st at 10 PM (ET/PT) before moving to its regular air day and time, Thursdays at 9 PM (ET/PT). This CTV drama is currently airing in Canada, and features a pair of investigators who use a crime's motive to commit murder to identify the killer (who is known at the beginning of each episode).

• Whodunnit? Season One: Sunday, June 23rd at 9 PM (ET/PT). Anthony E. Zuiker (CSI) has created this unscripted (reality) series in which players will use a variety of crime scene investigation techniques to meticulously uncover evidence that will ultimately reveal who among them is the killer. Each week one will leave the game until one player (of the three remaining at the end) identifies the killer.

Keep up to date on the status of your favorite mystery and suspense television with our Telemystery Scoresheet. We've updated it with today's news.

Winner of the 2013 Dilys Award Announced

Before the Poison by Peter Robinson is the winner of the annual Dilys Award in recognition for the book booksellers most enjoyed selling last year; the news was announced last night at Left Coast Crime.

Named in honor of Dilys Winn, founder of the first mystery bookstore in the US, the award is sponsored by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.

(Hat tip to Janet Rudolph of Mystery Fanfare.)

The Vanished Lady by Vickie Britton and Loretta Jackson is Today's Fourth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Vanished Lady by Vickie Britton and Loretta Jackson as today's fourth free mystery ebook (A Novel of Suspense; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, March 22, 2013 at 7:40 AM ET. 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.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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The Vanished Lady
Vickie Britton and Loretta Jackson
A Novel of Suspense
Publisher: Vickie Britton and Loretta Jackson

Dana Lawrence doesn’t imagine when she buys the quaint Victorian house in the remote mountains of Colorado that her life will soon be in danger. She has heard the legend of Lelia Glenn and how she vanished in the 1800’s, but no one told her about the more recent disappearance of Amy Walden two years ago.

On the night of her arrival, Dana spies someone digging on her land. The sheriff tells her that on the day Amy disappeared Glenndale’s jewelry store was robbed. Amy’s boyfriend, Donnie Thorpe, is still on the run, and his accomplice, Jed Hoyt, has just been released from prison. Bennett believes a third party masterminded the robbery — her handsome neighbor, Logan Rand.

While Dana tries to beat the thieves to the stolen goods, she uncovers a grave. Threats and attempts on her life follow in rapid succession. Dana must identify the killer before she becomes the next vanished lady.

  

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.

Wintertide by Debra Doxer is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Wintertide by Debra Doxer as today's third free mystery ebook (A Novel of Suspense; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, March 22, 2013 at 7:30 AM ET. 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.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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Wintertide
Debra Doxer
A Novel of Suspense
Publisher: CreateSpace

When college sophomore, Daniel Hiller, reluctantly returned home to Cape Cod for the holidays, he never planned on rekindling old friendships. He had easily left his life behind, and he never looked back. But back at home, after a year and a half away, unexpected nostalgia finds him once again in the company of old friends. On a night out together, one of those friends commits a heinous crime. When Daniel witnesses that crime, he is asked to keep a dark secret that could forever tie him to the place he has always despised.

As Daniel tries to get through the rest of his winter break pretending that nothing is wrong, he rekindles a relationship with his high school girlfriend and he referees the all too familiar arguments between his parents. All the while, he is attempting to avoid the constant threats of retribution if he breaks his silence. Soon, avoidance becomes impossible. Not knowing who to trust, but realizing that his former friends are far from trustworthy, Daniel must make a choice. When he does, he discovers that keeping the secret may have been the lesser of the evils.

Daniel wants to believe that he is nothing like his friends. He wants to think that he’s better than that. But when his own future is threatened, he realizes that he is not better. In fact, he may be much, much worse.

  

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 Thirteenth Skull by Bonnie Ramthun is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Thirteenth Skull by Bonnie Ramthun as today's second free mystery ebook (An Eileen Reed Mystery; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, March 22, 2013 at 7:20 AM ET. 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.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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The Thirteenth Skull
Bonnie Ramthun
An Eileen Reed Mystery
Publisher: Bonnie Ramthun

Discovering an ancient skeleton can be murder, as homicide detective Eileen Reed discovers when her parents ask for her help in a missing person's case.

The missing man, an archeologist, has been excavating a Lakota buffalo jump at the Reed Ranch near Devil's Tower, Wyoming. The discovery of his murdered corpse and the treasure he took from the ancient skeleton are complicated further when a hired assassin targets Eileen's fiancé, Joe Tanner, a top-secret defense programmer. The big-city killers come to do murder in a small Wyoming town, and Eileen Reed finds herself in a fight for her life and the lives of her family, trying to solve a very personal murder and keep two very impersonal murderers from their intended slaughter.

Her investigations include the mystery surrounding the flawless crystal skull unearthed from the arms of the Aztec warrior who died trying to deliver it to the Lakota tribe. The crystal skull exhibits mysterious properties that seem to defy explanation. Eileen must unlock the secrets of the skull in order to save her family from the killers and fulfill the Aztec's ancient mission.

  

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.

House 23 by Eli Yance is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature House 23 by Eli Yance as today's free mystery ebook (A Mystery Thriller; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, March 22, 2013 at 7:10 AM ET. 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.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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House 23
Eli Yance
A Mystery Thriller
Publisher: Compulsion Books

Joesph Lee is wealthy, safe, and alone. His wife was murdered, butchered in her own house. They never found the killer. The police blamed him, as did everyone else.

He's been alone since her death. Confined to the house where she was murdered, forced to live a hermit's existence as he struggles with his grief and self-loathing. But there's hope: a beautiful woman, a woman who looks uncannily like his dead wife, moves into the house across the road and befriends him.

Joesph Lee's life seems to be improving, but after the light at the end of the tunnel there's another descent into a world of darkness, because the stunning look-alike, and the imposing structure of house 23, are hiding disturbing secrets.

  

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.

Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil by Barbara Monajem is Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil by Barbara Monajem as today's Amazon Kindle Daily Deal.

The deal price of $1.99 is valid only for today, Friday, March 22, 2013.

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Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil
Barbara Monajem
A Bayou Gavotte Novel of Romantic Suspense (1st in series)
Love Spell

Dark secrets abound in the town of Bayou Gavotte, Louisiana …

Being irresistible sucks. Ophelia Beliveau learned that at puberty. When her friends grew breasts, she sprouted fangs as well. The effect on boys was even more dangerous.

Ophelia's peril has only increased. As a woman, there's been only one solution, but she can't avoid men forever. Solitude satisfies no craving, and now her self-imposed exile must end. A vandal has destroyed her garden. A web of blackmail and murder is being woven across town, with Ophelia at its heart. And then there's Gideon O'Toole, a detective sworn to uncover more secrets than she thirsts to bare …

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 Bestsellers for the Week Ending March 22, 2013

A list of the top 15 Mystery Hardcover Bestsellers for the week ending March 22nd, 2013 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

Some minor shuffling among the top four titles this week, with Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn again retaining the top spot.

But we're thinking that may change next week; Harlan Coben's new stand-alone had one of the strongest debuts we've seen in a long time (below; position in backets).

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[6]: Six Years
Harlan Coben

Six years have passed since Jake Fisher watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. Six years of hiding a broken heart by throwing himself into his career as a college professor. Six years of keeping his promise to leave Natalie alone, and six years of tortured dreams of her life with her new husband, Todd.

But six years haven't come close to extinguishing his feelings, and when Jake comes across Todd's obituary, he can't keep himself away from the funeral. There he gets the glimpse of Todd's wife he's hoping for … but she is not Natalie. Whoever the mourning widow is, she's been married to Todd for almost two decades, and with that fact everything Jake thought he knew about the best time of his life—a time he has never gotten over — is turned completely inside out.

As Jake searches for the truth, his picture-perfect memories of Natalie begin to unravel. Mutual friends of the couple either can't be found, or don't remember Jake. No one has seen Natalie in years. Jake's search for the woman who broke his heart, who lied to him, soon puts his very life at risk as it dawns on him that the man he has become may be based on a carefully constructed fiction.

Purchase Options

          

Today's Mystery and Suspense Update from Big Fish Games (130322)

Here is today's mystery and suspense update from Big Fish Games …

• The New Release is Secrets of the Dark: Mystery of the Ancestral Estate (Collector's Edition).

• The Daily Deal is Ghost Towns: The Cats of Ulthar, just $2.99 today only!.

• The current Catch of the Week is Amazing Adventures: Riddle of the Two Knights, just $2.99 through Sunday, March 24, 2013 only.

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Today's New Release is Secrets of the Dark: Mystery of the Ancestral Estate (Collector's Edition)

You will have to challenge yourself as a professional who specializes in most tangled cases and defeat the darkness to rescue an innocent soul. Earlier you’ve already had a chance to investigate strange cases in ancient Thai and Mexico. Now it’s time visit the Mediterranean coast and reveal the secret of an ancient family estate which was inherited by a young woman who is now begging you for help. Her life hangs in the balance and her fate is up to your strength and courage.

This is a special Collector's Edition release full of exclusive extras you won't find in the standard version, including: an integrated strategy guide; replayable mini-games and puzzles; and bonus gameplay.

A sample version is available to download and play for free for one hour.

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Today's Daily Deal is Ghost Towns: The Cats of Ulthar

Upon arriving in a strange city, you find the citizens ready to burn Menes at the stake! Wander the streets of Ulthar and discover what Menes did that got him in so much trouble in this incredible Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game. Find out why the citizens worship cats from ancient times and try to save Menes from his gristly fate!

A sample version is available to download and play for free for one hour. You can purchase this game today only — Friday, March 22, 2013 — for $2.99.

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The current Catch of the Week is Amazing Adventures: Riddle of the Two Knights

An ancient chessboard is unearthed and the missing pieces need to be found. A curious trail leads you from the crowded bazaars of Morocco to the snow-swept summits of the Swiss Alps. With each new piece, a strange tale of two Medieval Knights is revealed. Complete 25 missions by finding hidden items and solving unique puzzles. Good luck!

A sample version is available to download and play for free for one hour. You can purchase this game at the special price of $2.99 through Sunday, March 24, 2013.