Mystery Bestsellers for the Week Ending February 14, 2014

A list of the top 15 Mystery Hardcover Bestsellers for the week ending February 14th, 2014 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

No change in order among the top five bestsellers, with Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn retaining the top spot yet again this week.

Three new titles enter the list this week (rank in [brackets]).

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[9]: Killer
Jonathan Kellerman
— Alex Delaware (29th)

The City of Angels has more than its share of psychopaths, and no one recognizes that more acutely than the brilliant psychologist and police consultant Dr. Alex Delaware. Despite that, Constance Sykes, a sophisticated, successful physician, hardly seems like someone Alex needs to fear. Then, at the behest of the court, he becomes embroiled in a bizarre child custody dispute initiated by Connie against her sister and begins to realize that there is much about the siblings he has failed to comprehend. And when the court battle between the Sykes sisters erupts into cold, calculating murder and a rapidly growing number of victims, Alex knows he's been snared in a toxic web of pathology.

Nothing would please Alex more than to be free of the ugly spectacle known as Sykes v. Sykes. But then the little girl at the center of the vicious dispute disappears and Alex knows he must work with longtime friend Detective Milo Sturgis, braving an obstacle course of Hollywood washouts, gangbangers, and self-serving jurists in order to save an innocent life.

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[11]: After I'm Gone
Laura Lippman

When Felix Brewer meets Bernadette "Bambi" Gottschalk at a Valentine's Dance in 1959, he charms her with wild promises, some of which he actually keeps. Thanks to his lucrative — if not all legal — businesses, she and their three little girls live in luxury. But on the Fourth of July, 1976, Bambi's comfortable world implodes when Felix, newly convicted and facing prison, mysteriously vanishes.

Though Bambi has no idea where her husband — or his money — might be, she suspects one woman does: his mistress, Julie. When Julie disappears ten years to the day that Felix went on the lam, everyone assumes she's left to join her old lover — until her remains are eventually found.

Now, twenty-six years after Julie went missing, Roberto "Sandy" Sanchez, a retired Baltimore detective working cold cases for some extra cash, is investigating her murder. What he discovers is a tangled web stretching over three decades that connects five intriguing women. And at the center is the missing man Felix Brewer.

Somewhere between the secrets and lies connecting past and present, Sandy will find the truth. And when he does, no one will ever be the same.

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[15]: The Counterfeit Agent
Alex Berenson
— John Wells (8th)

In an Istanbul hotel, a deep source warns a CIA agent that Iran intends to kill a CIA station chief. Quickly, John Wells is called in to investigate, but before he can get far, the tip comes true. Which means that the next warning the source gives will be taken very seriously indeed. And it's a big one. We've put a package on a ship from Dubai to the United States. A radioactive one. A bomb? Not yet. It's a test run.

As the threat level jumps and the government mobilizes, something still doesn't smell right to Wells's old CIA boss Ellis Shafer, and so he sends Wells on a private mission to find out what's going on. But the two of them are swimming against the tide. From Guatemala to Thailand to Hong Kong to Istanbul, Wells uses every skill he has, including his ability to go undercover in the Arab world, to chase down leads. But it might not be enough. Soon there might be nothing anyone can do to pull the United States back from the brink of war.

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Today's Mystery and Suspense Update from Big Fish Games (140214)

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

• The New Release is Mystery Trackers: Raincliff's Phantoms (Collector's Edition).

• The Daily Deal is Dark Lore Mysteries: The Hunt for Truth, just $2.99 today only!

• The current Catch of the Week is Mystery Trackers: The Four Aces, just $2.99 through Sunday, February 16, 2014 only.

Visit the Omnimystery Entertainment Network for more games of mystery and suspense!

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The New Release today is Mystery Trackers: Raincliff's Phantoms (Collector's Edition)

Now you see us … now you don't. It should have been a lighthearted human interest story, but what Emilie White reported on in this abandoned town scared her witless — and now she's vanished. Nobody can say what happened to her, and only a few like you know the stories of invisible people living there are true. Return to Raincliff, where what you see isn't always what you get.

This is a special Collector's Edition release full of exclusive extras you won't find in the standard version, including: Play the bonus game to uncover more secrets; Discover the Secret Room; Earn Achievements; Collect Mr. Toad figurines throughout the game; and Get soundtracks, wallpapers, screensavers and concept art.

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

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Today's Daily Deal is Dark Lore Mysteries: The Hunt for Truth

A violent murder has awoken a small town with a troubled past. A town where evil was part of their history and fear was in their daily lives. They thought that chapter was over with. Investigate the murders and track down the killer before evil engulfs the town.

A sample version is available to download and play for free for one hour. You can purchase this game today only — Friday, February 14, 2014 — for $2.99.

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The current Catch of the Week is Mystery Trackers: The Four Aces

The entire town of Brightfield was evacuated after a series of bizarre animal attacks. Now, strange creatures roam the streets, danger lurks around every corner and you've just landed smack in the middle of it all. As you begin to investigate, you discover that the attacks may have been part of a whole series of crimes committed in town, all tracing back to an organization called the Four Aces. But just who are the Aces and what is their plan? With the help of your trusty canine companion, Elf, you must keep digging to get to the bottom of things. Good luck out there, Detective. You're going to need it!

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, February 16, 2014.

Cover Reveal for Holly Schindler's New YA Thriller Feral

Holly Schindler's new young adult thriller Feral will be published this summer, but she provided us with an advance look at the book's cover (right; click for larger image). The tagline: "A wicked game of cat and mouse …".

It's too late for you. You're dead.

Those words float through Claire Cain's head as she lies broken and barely alive after a brutal beating. And the words continue to haunt her months later, in the relentless, terrifying nightmares that plague her sleep. So when her father is offered a teaching sabbatical in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out of Chicago, away from the things that remind her of what she went through, will offer a way to start anew.

But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire quickly realizes something is wrong — the town is brimming with hidden dangers and overrun by feral cats. And her fears are confirmed when a popular high school girl, Serena Sims, is suddenly found dead in the icy woods behind the school. While everyone is quick to say Serena died in an accident, Claire knows there's more to it — for she was the one who found Serena, battered and most certainly dead, surrounded by the town's feral cats.

Now Claire vows to learn the truth about what happened, but the closer she gets to uncovering the mystery, the closer she also gets to discovering a frightening reality about herself and the damage she truly sustained in that Chicago alley.

With an eerie setting and heart-stopping twists and turns, Holly Schindler weaves a gripping story that will make you question everything you think you know.

Published in hardcover and ebook formats on August 26th, 2014 by HarperTeen, Feral is available to pre-order.

Review: The Ways of Evil Men by Leighton Gage

A Mysterious Review of The Ways of Evil Men by Leighton Gage. A Mario Silva Investigation.

Review summary: The complexity of the storyline in this solidly plotted police procedural together with several credible paths of misdirection make this one of the better books in this already very good series; sadly, it will also be the last as the author died following writing it and prior to its publication. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

The Ways of Evil Men
Leighton Gage
A Mario Silva Investigation
Soho Press (January 2014)

Publisher synopsis: The Awana tribe, who live in the remote Amazon jungle in the Brazilian state of Pará, have dwindled to only 41 members — and now 39 of them have dropped dead of what looks like poison. The neighboring white townsfolk don’t seem to be mourning the genocide much — in fact, the only person who seems to care at all is Jade Calmon, the official tribal relations agent assigned to the area. She wants justice for the two survivors, a father and his 8-year-old son. But racism is deeply entrenched and no one is going to help her get to the truth.

Unfortunately, this is far from the first time the Brazilian federal police have had a tribal genocide to investigate. Chief Inspector Mario Silva and his team are sent in from Brasilia to try to solve the increasingly complex case just as a local white man is discovered murdered. Someone has done their best to frame the surviving Awana man, and the town is about to erupt.

        

A New MystereBook: Up in the Air by Melanie Jackson

Here is a mystery, suspense, or thriller ebook that we recently found by sleuthing (as it were) through new or recently reissued titles from independent publishers during February 2014 priced $4.99 or less …

Up in the Air by Melanie Jackson is the 21st cozy mystery novella in this series featuring Hope Falls police detective Chloe Boston.

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Up in the Air by Melanie Jackson
A Chloe Boston Mystery Novella
Publisher: Brian Jackson
Publication Date: February 11, 2014
Price: $2.99 (as of 02/13/14 05:30 PM ET)

Hope Falls is hosting its first Kite Festival to raise funds for the animal shelter. The festival will bring in funds, tourists and a pair of feuding kite makers, one of whom ends up dead.

A little investigation proves that the late Gerhardt Brandt was not a good man and had an impressive list of enemies. Can Chloe find the killer before everyone packs up their kites and heads home?

  

Important Note: This book was listed for the price indicated on the date and time as shown. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

A Kindle Countdown Deal: Hot Type by Joseph Flynn

Amazon Kindle Countdown Deals, limited-time discounts on Kindle-exclusive books.

MystereBooks is pleased to present you with one of today's titles … but take advantage of this deal now as the price will go up to its digital list price soon! (See the countdown clock on the book product page to see how much time remains on this deal.)

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Hot Type by Joseph Flynn
A Novel of Suspense
Publisher: Stray Dog Press
Price: $1.99 (as of 02/13/14 05:00 PM ET)

Two men on the run …

Newspaperman Dan Cameron gets a cool old typewriter for his 40th birthday. It once belonged to Ben Hecht, who used it to write the movie "Notorious". Dan uses it to write a best-seller. Then the Hecht estate says the typewriter was stolen and demands its return. As his lawyers fight in court, Dan and his wife, Erin, take off so he can get at least one more book out of the machine.

Bank robber Fetch McDonald is three weeks away from parole when his father brings bad news. Fetch's ex-wife, Verene, who still holds title to his heart, is going to remarry — in two weeks. One week before Fetch's release. With the help of his cousin, Lerome, Fetch breaks out. But the car Lerome has stolen breaks down. Right outside of Dan and Erin's cabin in the woods. The two desperados steal the Camerons' SUV. And Lerome, a quirky sort, steals Dan's typewriter and the only copy of his new novel.

Not long after that Fetch and an unlikely accomplice are duplicating the crimes described in Dan's novel. Dan and Erin have no choice but to join in the manhunt. If the court rules against Dan, what's he going to say? An escaped convict stole the typewriter? Yeah, right. Besides, Dan thinks there's a new book in tracking down the thieves.

  

Important Note: This book was listed for the price indicated on the date and time as shown. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

A New MystereBook: The Calling by Amber Foxx

Here is a mystery, suspense, or thriller ebook that we recently found by sleuthing (as it were) through new or recently reissued titles from independent publishers during February 2014 priced $4.99 or less …

The Calling by Amber Foxx is the first Mae Martin psychic mystery. When an extraordinary ability intrudes on an ordinary life, ready or not, everything changes.

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The Calling by Amber Foxx
A Mae Martin Mystery
Publisher: Amber Foxx
Publication Date: February 05, 2014
Price: $3.99 (as of 02/13/14 04:30 PM ET)

A down-to-earth North Carolina country girl, Mae Martin-Ridley is a former high school athlete whose interests run to sports and fitness, not spirituality or mysticism. The last thing she ever expected to be was a psychic or a spiritual healer. Obeying her mother's warning, Mae has been hiding her gift of "the sight" for years. When events compel her to use it again, the unforeseen consequences spread to affect every aspect of her life — work, marriage, and family.

To qualify for a new job Mae takes a class in Norfolk, Virginia, where she meets people who not only accept her abilities but push her to explore them further. She struggles with the shadow side of her gift. Though she wants to use "the sight" to help people, it gives her access to secrets she could regret uncovering.

Torn between those around her who encourage her and those who condemn or doubt, Mae has to find her own path.

  

Important Note: This book was listed for the price indicated on the date and time as shown. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Deaken's War, A Legal Thriller by Brian Freemantle writing as Jack Winchester, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Deaken's War by Brian Freemantle writing as Jack Winchester, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Open Road.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $1.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (02/13/2014 at 4:00 PM 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.

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Deaken's War by Brian Freemantle writing as Jack Winchester
A Legal Thriller
Publisher: Open Road

A lawyer gets caught in the crossfire of a deadly civil war in Africa …

Richard Deaken has lost his nerve. Once a globally renowned trial lawyer, he has suffered a string of bad results that have sapped his confidence and dulled the edge necessary for success in the high-stakes world of international law. Resigned to life in obscurity, he has retreated to an unimpressive office in Geneva, where the trickle of low-paying clients doesn't come close to supporting the lifestyle that he — and his wife — are used to. But a big case is right around the corner.

Deaken's new employers are soldiers in a vicious African civil war on the brink of erupting into unprecedented bloodshed. An order of $50 million worth of arms is on its way to his client's opponents, and to stop it they have kidnapped the arms dealer's son. They ask Deaken to negotiate the ransom — the guns in exchange for the child — and he cannot say no, because the guerillas have also kidnapped his wife.

        

Click on the Amazon button to see also the special Whispersync offer associated with this title.

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price 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.

The Third Rule of Ten by Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay, New in Bookstores in February 2014

Today's featured paperback original mystery title, scheduled to be published during February 2014 by Hay House Visions, is The Third Rule of Ten by Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay.

For a list of more new paperback mysteries, thrillers, and novels of suspense published this month, visit our Mystery Bookshelf page for February 2014. For hardcover titles, visit New Mysteries for a selection of books published during February 2014.

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The Third Rule of Ten
Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay
Series: A Tenzing "Ten" Norbu Mystery

Keep current with the truth: we are only as weak as our secrets; especially the ones we keep from ourselves. That's the Third Rule of Ten.

As the go-to private detective for a bevy of high-profile clients, our beloved ex-Buddhist monk, ex-Lapd officer, Tenzing Norbu, has finally found his stride. With his beautiful pathologist girlfriend, a healthy bank account, and a steady stream of clients, courtesy of middle-aged movie star Mac Gannon and rising political star Bets McMurtry's life is bursting with activity.

But its not all joy and happiness. The death of his father and a growing abundance of secrets both personal and professional leave feeling an unexpected depth of sorrow and confusion. Even with the emotional turmoil, nothing can stop Ten from taking the case when McMurtry's housekeeper goes missing.

The investigation leads him down a dangerous path littered with bodies, untraceable prescription drugs, and human organ trafficking. But nothing is as shocking as the realization that the mastermind behind it all is none other than Chaco Morales, a criminal that slipped through hands once already.

        

Finding Sarah, A Pine Hills Police Novel of Romantic Suspense by Terry Odell, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Finding Sarah by Terry Odell, now available at a special price, courtesy of the author.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $0.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (02/13/2014 at 3:00 PM 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.

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Finding Sarah by Terry Odell
A Pine Hills Police Novel of Romantic Suspense (2nd in series)
Publisher: Terry Odell

Being robbed at gunpoint wasn't part of Sarah Tucker's business plan. Neither was falling in love with the detective who arrived to solve the case.

All Sarah wants is success for her gift boutique, the one she and her husband created. Now, she's living a hand-to-mouth existence. Her husband died a year earlier in a car accident — an accident that was ruled suicide, denying her his life insurance money. Burdened by guilt that she was somehow to blame for his death, Sarah faces one business setback after another. Determined to succeed on her own, she fights off a meddling sister-in-law as well as offers of financial assistance from a former boyfriend. Unaware someone is setting her up for failure, she's totally unprepared to find herself fighting for survival.

Police Detective Randy Detweiler thinks the crook is a thief who's been evading cops all over the state. A routine robbery investigation turns into the biggest challenge of his career when he falls in love with the victim, and he starts crossing professional boundaries. When Sarah disappears, he's afraid all his detective skills might not be enough to find her in time to save her life.

        

Click on the Amazon button to see also the special Whispersync offer associated with this title.

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price 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.

Dead Water by Ann Cleeves, New in Bookstores in February 2014

Today's new hardcover mystery title, scheduled to be published during February 2014 by Minotaur Books, is Dead Water by Ann Cleeves.

For a list of more new hardcover mysteries published this month, visit our New Mysteries page for February 2014. For new paperback mysteries, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where a selection of February 2014 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers are shelved.

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Dead Water
Ann Cleeves
Series: Shetland Islands Quartet (5th)

When the body of a journalist is found, Detective Inspector Willow Reeves is drafted from outside to head up the investigation. Inspector Jimmy Perez has been out of the loop, but his local knowledge is needed in this case, and he decides to help Willow.

The dead journalist had left the islands years before to pursue his writing career. In his wake, he left a scandal involving a young girl.

When Willow and Jimmy dig deeper, they realize that the journalist was chasing a story that many Shetlanders didn't want to come to the surface.

        

Telemystery: HBO To Adapt British Thriller Series Utopia

HBO is adapting the British thriller Utopia as a drama series for the cable network. David Fincher will direct a screenplay written by crime novelist Gillian Flynn. The two recently collaborating on an adaptation of Flynn's bestselling novel, Gone Girl, which will open in theaters on October 3rd, 2014.

In Utopia, when an unconnected set of people find themselves in possession of the manuscript for a sequel to a legendary graphic novel, "The Utopia Experiments", their lives brutally implode as they are pursued by a shadowy and murderous organization. Using the manuscript, they must uncover the meaning hidden in its pages before the disasters depicted become reality.

The first season of six episodes originally aired early 2013. A second season of the series has been ordered.

Watch a trailer for this dark and enigmatic thriller series, below.

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