Mystery Bestsellers for the Week Ending April 12, 2013

A list of the top 15 Mystery Hardcover Bestsellers for the week ending April 12th, 2013 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

After many, many months at the top, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn has slipped to the second spot on our list, replaced by last week's featured title, Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.

Four new titles debut this week (below; position in backets).

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[8]: Don't Go
Lisa Scottoline

When Dr. Mike Scanlon is called to serve as an army doctor in Afghanistan, he's acutely aware of the dangers he'll face and the hardships it will cause his wife Chloe and newborn baby. And deep inside, he doesn't think of himself as a warrior, but a healer.

However, in an ironic turn of events, as Mike operates on a wounded soldier in a war-torn country, Chloe dies at home in the suburbs, in an apparent household accident. Devastated, he returns home to bury her, only to discover that the life he left behind has fallen apart. His medical practice is in jeopardy, and he is a complete stranger to the only family he has left — his precious baby girl. Worse, he learns a shocking secret that sends him into a downward spiral.

Ultimately, Mike realizes that the most important battle of his life faces him on the home front and he'll have to put it all on the line to save what's dearest to him — his family.

Purchase Options

          

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[10]: Unintended Consequences
Stuart Woods
— Stone Barrington (26th)

Stone Barrington is no stranger to schemes and deceptions of all stripes — as an attorney for the premier white-shoe law firm Woodman & Weld, he's seen more than his share. But when he travels to Europe under highly unusual circumstances, Stone finds himself at the center of a mystery that is, even by his standards, most peculiar.

Two unexpected invitations may be the first clues in an intricate puzzle Stone must unravel to learn the truth … a puzzle that will lead him deep into the rarefied world of European ultrawealth and privilege, where billionaires rub elbows with spooks, insider knowledge is traded at a high premium, and murder is never too high a price to pay for a desired end. It soon becomes clear that beneath the bright lights of Europe lurks a shadowy underworld … and its only rule is deadly ambition.

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[13]: Daddy's Gone a Hunting
Mary Higgins Clark

A family's past threatens the lives of two sisters, Kate and Hannah Connelly, when the family-owned furniture firm in Long Island City, founded by their grandfather and famous for its fine reproductions of antiques, explodes into flames in the middle of the night, leveling the buildings to the ground, including the museum where priceless antiques have been on permanent display for years.

The ashes reveal a startling and grisly discovery, and provoke a host of suspicions and questions. Was the explosion deliberately set? What was Kate—tall, gorgeous, blond, a CPA for one of the biggest accounting firms in the country, and sister of a rising fashion designer — doing in the museum when it burst into flames? Why was Gus, a retired and disgruntled craftsman, with her at that time of night? What if someone isn't who he claims to be?

Now Gus is dead, and Kate lies in the hospital badly injured and in a coma, so neither can tell what drew them there, or what the tragedy may have to do with the hunt for a young woman missing for many years, nor can they warn that somebody may be covering his tracks, willing to kill to save himself …

Step by step, in a novel of dazzling suspense and excitement, Mary Higgins Clark once again demonstrates the mastery of her craft that has made her books international bestsellers for years. She presents the reader with a perplexing mystery, a puzzling question of identity, and a fascinating cast of characters — one of whom may just be a ruthless killer …

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[15]: Miss Julia Stirs Up Trouble
Ann B. Ross
— Julia Springer (14th)

With a crisp bite in the air, Miss Julia is enjoying a well-earned respite by her new fireplace. But autumn leaves aren't the only things falling: James, Hazel Marie's housekeeper, has had a nasty tumble down some stairs. How can Hazel Marie feed and take care of him — not to mention a husband and two babies — when she barely knows how to boil water?

Miss Julia jumps in to help by convincing the ladies of Abbotsville to put on their aprons and give cooking lessons. With success so close she can taste it, Miss Julia isn't thrilled when an unexpected visitor shows up. Brother Vern Puckett, Hazel Marie's no-good uncle, started life on the wrong foot and stayed there. What could he possibly want from his frazzled niece this time?

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New Trailer for Heist Thriller Now You See Me

Summit Entertainment has released a second trailer for its upcoming heist thriller Now You See Me (embedded below).

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman (who also narrates the new trailer), Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, and Dave Franco, the storyline follows an elite FBI squad in a game of cat and mouse against "The Four Horsemen," a super-team of the world's greatest illusionists. "The Four Horsemen" pull off a series of daring heists against corrupt business leaders during their performances, showering the stolen profits on their audiences while staying one step ahead of the law.

Directed by Louis Leterrier from an original screenplay by Ed Solomon, Now You See Me opens in theaters May 31, 2013.

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MystereBooks: Smoke Screen by Sandra Brown, 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 Smoke Screen by Sandra Brown. This Kindle book was listed at $2.99 as of the date and time of this post, Thursday, April 11, 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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Smoke Screen by Sandra Brown
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

When newswoman Britt Shelley wakes up to find herself in bed with Jay Burgess, a rising star detective in the Charleston PD, she remembers nothing of how she got there … or of how Jay wound up dead.

Handsome and hard-partying, Jay was a hero of the disastrous fire that five years earlier had destroyed Charleston's police headquarters. The blaze left seven people dead, but the death toll would have been much higher if not for the bravery of Jay and three other city officials who risked their lives to lead others to safety.

Firefighter Raley Gannon, Jay's lifelong friend, was off-duty that day. Though he might not have been a front-line hero, he was assigned to lead the investigation into the cause of the fire. It was an investigation he never got to complete. Because on one calamitous night, Raley's world was shattered.

Scandalized, wronged by the people he trusted most, Raley was forced to surrender the woman he loved and the work to which he'd dedicated his life. For five years his resentment against the men who exploited their hero status to further their careers — and ruin his — had festered, but he was helpless to set things right.

That changes when he learns of Jay Burgess's shocking death and Britt Shelley's claim that she has no memory of her night with him. As the investigation into Jay's death intensifies, and suspicion against Britt Shelley mounts, Raley realizes that the newswoman, Jay's last sexual conquest, might be his only chance to get personal vindication — and justice for the seven victims of the police station fire.

But there are powerful men who don't want to address unanswered questions about the fire and who will go to any lengths to protect their reputations. As Raley and Britt discover more about what happened that fateful day, the more perilous their situation becomes, until they're not only chasing after the truth but running for their lives.

      

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.

Movie News: Production Update on Remake of Point Break

A remake of the 1991 action thriller Point Break took a major step forward with the announcement that Ericson Core has been tapped to direct the film.

The screenplay, written by Kurt Wimmer, is reportedly set in the world of extreme sports and again has an undercover FBI agent infiltrating a crime ring. In the original — a film we really enjoy and continue to watch again every couple of years or so — Keanu Reeves plays the agent going up against crime leader Patrick Swayze, an expert surfer. (More about the original film, below.)

Production is expected to begin later this year, with the film released through Warner Bros. No casting details were announced.

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Point Break (1991)

Kathryn Bigelow's fourth action film follows FBI agent Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) as he goes undercover to infiltrate a cache of Southern California surfers suspected of robbing banks.

Utah, a former football player, is assigned to the Los Angeles field office. There, four bank robbers, who wear rubber masks and call themselves "Ex-Presidents", have executed a series of successful robberies which embarrassingly have the FBI stumped. Utah and his partner Pappas (Gary Busey) hatch a plan for catching them.

      

Telemystery: Len Deighton's Bernard Samson Spy Thrillers to be Adapted for Television

Clerkenwell Films is developing an 18-part made-for-television adaptation of the nine spy thrillers by Len Deighton featuring Bernard Sampson. Simon Beaufoy will executive produce.

"Deighton's masterful series of novels draws the hidden political map of the late twentieth century," said Beaufoy. "It is all here: murders, honey-traps and spy swaps, the double-dealing and maneuvering of nations jousting for position at the height of the Cold War, with Bernard Samson, the Bond with brains, giving it an almost Chandleresque sense of cool."

Ex-MI6 field agent Samson was introduced in 1983 in Berlin Game (details below), the first in the so-called "Game-Set-Match" trilogy. Two more trilogies of thrillers followed, with the series completed in 1996.

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Berlin Game
Len Deighton
A Bernard Samson Spy Thriller (1st in series)

Brahms Four is the best East German source the British ever had, but now he thinks his cover has been blown — and he desperately wants to come over the Wall and escape from Berlin before he's exposed. There is only one person he still trusts, British agent Bernard Samson of the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service). So Samson, who retired to a desk job five years before, is thrown back into the field.

But but before he can even set out on his mission to help Brahms Four, he realizes there's a traitor very close to him. He must find out who it is … and get Brahms to the West before it's too late.

    

The Mystery Bookshelf: G is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton, a Kinsey Millhone Mystery

The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a world of mystery and suspense, is pleased to feature a new — or newly reissued — crime novel we recently received from the publisher.

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G is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton
A Kinsey Millhone Mystery (7th in series)
Minotaur Books (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: April 2013
ISBN-13: 978-1-250-02546-3

About G is for Gumshoe (from the publisher): When Irene Gersh asks PI Kinsey Millhone to locate her elderly mother Agnes, whom she hasn't heard from in six months, it's not exactly the kind of case Kinsey jumps for. But a girl's gotta pay her bills, and this should be easy money — or so she thinks. Kinsey finds Agnes in a hospital. Aside from her occasional memory lapses, the octogenarian seems fine. And frightened.

Kinsey doesn't know what to make of Agnes's vague fears and bizarre ramblings, but she's got her own worries. It seems Tyrone Patty, a criminal she helped put behind bars, is looking to make a hit. First, Kinsey's car is run off the road, and then days later, she's almost gunned down, setting in motion a harrowing cat and mouse game …

So Kinsey decides to hire a bodyguard. With PI Robert Dietz watching her 24/7, Kinsey is feeling on edge … especially with their growing sexual tension. Then Agnes dies of an apparent homicide, and Kinsey realizes the old lady wasn't so senile after all — maybe she was trying to tell her something? Now Kinsey's determined to learn the truth … even if it kills her.

Purchase Options for G is for Gumshoe:

        

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About the author: Sue Grafton entered the mystery field in 1982 with the publication of A is for Alibi, which introduced female hard-boiled private investigator, Kinsey Millhone, operating out of the fictional town of Santa Teresa (a.k.a. Santa Barbara) California. She has been named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America (2009) and was a recipient of the Ross Macdonald Literary Award (2004). She has a home in Montecito, California, and another in Louisville, Kentucky, the city in which she was born and raised. Grafton intends to complete the "alphabet series" in 2015.

Please Welcome Mystery Author Dorothy H. Hayes

by Dorothy H. Hayes

We are delighted to welcome author Dorothy H. Hayes as our guest.

Dorothy's new mystery is Murder at the P&Z (Mainly Murder Press, February 2013 trade paperback and ebook formats).

Today Dorothy tells us why writing matters.

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When did I know I was a writer, I'm often asked. As a kid, I didn't consider myself a writer. I'd sit down at a table to write a story and couldn't do it. But, now as I look back, I realize that I was always writing. When anything of importance occurred, such as our cat having kittens, I had to write it down.

Photo provided courtesy of
Dorothy H. Hayes

As a young adult, and a mother of four, I read the best authors, from Homer to contemporary writers. Each taught me something, Tolstoy, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Shakespeare, Hugo, Wilde, on and on, I was so stunned by their talent, I memorized monologues, and studied style. It was part of the major plan to some day write my own novel, even if I didn't know it at the time.

Now, I am surprised at the creativity I have, since I couldn't think of a story when I was a kid. I find that my characters make up their own minds about what might happen next, and plots evolve organically. And, I can recreate in words, atmospheres and personalities drawn from all the people I've met, and places I've been.

I've been asked what inspired me to write my new mystery Murder at the P&Z? I have to blame it on a giant black spruce tree, hundreds of years old in my backyard, when I lived in Wilton, CT decades ago. I was outside looking under its wide brim one winter morning and thinking, it's so deep, a body could be hidden under here.

The dead body of a woman is found under a giant black spruce in the second chapter.

Later, still living in Wilton, when I read an ad in the newspaper for a stringer, I almost jumped out of my skin. Here, I would have the opportunity to learn the craft of writing by working as a reporter.

And getting paid for it.

I was given a full-time staff writer position, a year later. I covered the Wilton Planning and Zoning Department. The moment I met certain people at P&Z and town hall, I thought, what great characters for a book. Although, it seemed almost a silly thought that would come to nothing, I stored them away, however, until a couple of decades later. They inspired my characters. Characters are bits and pieces of many people.

My protagonist, Carol Rossi, drives the plot of Murder at the P&Z, she has some aspects of my life and personality, but she's very different. Rossi writes for the Wilton Weekly, I wrote for the Wilton Bulletin. The story takes place in Wilton, CT, in December of 1983. That was when I lived there and worked as a reporter. The editor in the story is inspired by my former editor.

So what's the difference?

No one got murdered, for starters.

Rossi, 47, has a new romance going on with a police detective, Jerry Stevenson, when the story opens, and he's 11 years her junior. She's living in her parent's home. They both died in a year's time, she's overcoming her grief. The light at the end of the tunnel for her is Jerry and her job at the Weekly.

I was about the same age, but I had four children when I worked at the Bulletin and my parents were both alive. I didn't have a sweetheart on the police force.

The whole plot is made up. But the meat of the story is garnered by what I learned as a reporter. For instance, real estate projects were approved by the P&Z commissioners and the town planner. I thought this was a fertile place to start my story. Just a little corruption will lead to murder.

The plot, however, refused to stay within the confines of my original idea. Soon it thickened and grew far more deadly and before I knew it, the secretary to the town planner was murdered and then the recently retired town planner. Then Rossi is being stalked and her life is in danger. My cozy turned into a thriller.

Not only the culture of the newsroom, added to the narrative. Wilton is a colonial town so its history also enriched the novel. It was founded in 1726, 50 years before our Independence Day. Then in comes a corrupt influence that attempts to infiltrate Wilton, which I made up.

But how do I know I'm really a writer? I've asked myself this question. Never mind writing for a living for eleven years, teaching language arts for three, writing four books, two of which are stored in a closet.

It took six years to live Animal Instinct, my first published book, and six years to write it. I had to self-publish because I couldn't find a publisher.

I thought long and hard about writing another book. I had decided that I wouldn't again self-publish. So there were no guarantees that my next book would ever be read. It might find a home in the closet with my other two books.

So several months went by without writing. Then I came to realize that I had to write. It didn't matter whether anyone was going to publisher it, or read it. I got smarter about it, however. I chose the popular mystery genre for a better chance of finding a publisher. I joined Sister In Crime for access to advice, and the total picture of the publishing business. I have my sisters and other readers read my work, and I found a wonderful editor, thanks to SinC. I now write for Women of Mystery and Criminal Element, two popular mystery blogs, those connections were also made through SinC.

The fascination of writing has been with me from the start. It just took years to realize that it wasn't a fleeting interest, or a silly whim to write the great American novel and become famous. It was none of that. Writing for writers is plainly a natural habitat.

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Dorothy Hayes has been a teacher, a journalist, a staff writer and a public relations director for a national animal protection organization. She and her husband live in Stamford, Connecticut.

For more information about Dorothy and her work, please visit her website at DorothyHayes.com.

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Murder at the P&Z
Dorothy H. Hayes

Scratch the surface of a small town planning and zoning department, and you'll uncover a story. That's what Carol Rossi counts on in the winter of 1983, and she's right.

A former teacher, age 47 and romantically involved with a much younger police officer, she needs a big story to make a success of her new career as a reporter for a Wilton, Connecticut, weekly newspaper, but murder isn't what she had in mind. When the victim turns out to be a woman on Rossi's beat, writing a story no longer seems enough, and she vows to find the killer.

Stalked and terrorized, Rossi soon finds herself in over her head, professionally and romantically.

        

Spider Mouth by Mark Yarwood is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Spider Mouth by Mark Yarwood as today's third free mystery ebook (An Edmonton Police Station Thriller; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, April 11, 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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Spider Mouth
Mark Yarwood
An Edmonton Police Station Thriller
Publisher: Biscuit Books

A series of gruesome suicides involving a cannibal, a junky, and a housewife; the sadistic murder of a gangland villain; the death of the main suspect in a young girl’s disappearance — these are the events that begin a strange investigation by the newly formed Murder Squad of Edmonton Police Station, and send them racing across North London in search of the perpetrators.

At the scene of each horrific suicide, the team find a dead old man with a spider placed in his mouth. Detective Inspector Fred Fairservice finds the spiders particularly shocking, because it reminds him of something that happened to him when he was a boy. It cannot be just a coincidence.

With Detective Inspector Mark South in tow, Fred has to stop the killings, solve the riddle of the spiders, and help find a missing girl called Heather … all before his bosses make him take early retirement and his violent past catches up with him. But DI Fred Fairservice has other much darker demons to deal with.

  

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 Hanged Man by T. J. MacGregor is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Hanged Man by T. J. MacGregor as today's second free mystery ebook (A Mira Morales, Tango Key Mystery; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, April 11, 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 Hanged Man
T. J. MacGregor
A Mira Morales, Tango Key Mystery
Publisher: Crossroad Press

In a quiet home in the Fort Lauderdale suburbs, a woman psychically witnesses a murder. In a posh estate, a few miles away, a man lies dead. The only clues are a collection of Tarot cards sent to the victim's home and a nuisance call from a Fort Lauderdale woman who claims to have had a vision of the killing.

For Detective Wayne Sheppard, the killing of famous criminologist Andrew Steele and the disappearance of his beautiful wife is about to test everything he has ever believed and everything he knows about logic, police work, and scientific truth.

  

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.

A Clean Kill in Tokyo by Barry Eisler is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature A Clean Kill in Tokyo by Barry Eisler as today's free mystery ebook (A John Rain Thriller; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, April 11, 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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A Clean Kill in Tokyo
Barry Eisler
A John Rain Thriller
Publisher: Barry Eisler

Previously published in hardcover as Rain Fall in 2002.

Name: John Rain.
Vocation: Assassin.
Specialty: Natural Causes.
Base of operations: Tokyo.
Availability: Worldwide.

Half American, half Japanese, expert in both worlds but at home in neither, John Rain is the best killer money can buy. You tell him who. You tell him where. He doesn't care about why …

Until he gets involved with Midori Kawamura, a beautiful jazz pianist — and the daughter of his latest kill.

  

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.

Kane & Abel by Jeffrey Archer is Today's Nook Daily Find

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Kane & Abel by Jeffrey Archer as today's Barnes & Noble Nook Daily Find.

The deal price of $2.99 is valid only for today, Thursday, April 11, 2013.

Note: The price has been matched by Amazon.com for today only.

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Kane & Abel
Jeffrey Archer
St. Martin's Press

William Lowell Kane and Abel Rosnovski, one the son of a Boston millionaire, the other a penniless polish immigrant — born on the same day near the turn of the century on opposite sides of the world — are brought together by fate and the quest of a dream. Two men — ambitious, powerful, ruthless — are locked in a relentless struggle to build an empire, fueled by their all-consuming hatred. Over sixty years and three generations, through war, marriage, fortune, and disaster, Kane and Abel battle for the success and triumph that only one man can have …

 

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.