Sony Options Trio of Spy Thrillers by Olen Steinhauer

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

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

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

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

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

      

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

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

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

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

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

New Banner-Sized Poster for Elementary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is frequently updated, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

The Last of Sheila, Available Again on DVD

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

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

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

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

Amazon Publishing Launches James Bond Store

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

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

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

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

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

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120907)

Here is today's list of the Bestselling Free Kindle Crime Fiction: the top nine mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is updated hourly, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can click on the image to the right or use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

Save 25% This Weekend on a Bestselling Kobo eBook

From now through Monday, September 10th, 2012, Kobo is offering 25% off a single title from a select group of bestselling ebooks. (There were 124 from which to choose, when we checked this morning.)

Here is the coupon code: sep0725XY for 25% off one of these bestsellers.

There are quite a few crime novelists represented here: Steven James, Richard Castle, Nancy Bush, Lisa Jackson, Heather Graham, Joanne Fluke, and more.

New Trailer for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2

A new trailer — embedded below — premiered last night on MTV for the fifth and final film in the "Twilight Saga" series, Breaking Dawn Part 2.

Adapted from the fourth (and final) book in the series by Stephenie Meyer, the film stars Kirsten Stewart as Bella Swan, who, at the conclusion of Part 1, has married to vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). Part 2 opens with Bella, who gave birth to a daughter as a human, now a newborn vampire herself.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 opens in theaters November 16th, 2012.

Warner Bros. Announces Blade Runner 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition

The 30th anniversary of the release of Blade Runner is this year — the film opened in theaters June 25th, 1982 — and Warner Bros. is recognizing the occasion with a new Collector's Edition of the film … together with a new trailer (embedded below).

Directed by Ridley Scott and adapted from the classic sci-fi novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick, Blade Runner has itself become a classic film, a blend of science fiction and crime noir included on many "best" lists.

Harrison Ford stars as Rick Deckard, a retired cop in Los Angeles circa 2019. L.A. has become a pan-cultural dystopia of corporate advertising, pollution and flying automobiles, as well as replicants, human-like androids with short life spans built by the Tyrell Corporation for use in dangerous off-world colonization. Deckard's former job in the police department was as a talented blade runner, a euphemism for detectives that hunt down and assassinate rogue replicants. After a quartet of replicants escape and head to Earth, killing humans in the process, Deckard is recalled to duty to track them down.

This Collector's Edition will include four cuts of the film: the original US theatrical 1982 version; the original international 1982 version, which is just a minute longer, extending by seconds a few action scenes; the 1992 "director's cut" version, which differs significantly from the original and is more of a director/studio compromise cut; and the 2007 "final cut" version, for which the director had complete artistic control and is probably best described as the "director's cut".

Four discs are included in this set. (1) The Blu-ray version of the final cut with introduction and commentary by Ridley Scott. (2) The first three cuts mentioned above, each with an introduction by Scott. (3) A large number of special features including an 8-part documentary on the making of the film, several original trailers and TV spots, deleted and alternate scenes with introduction by Scott, and much, much more. (4) The DVD version of the final cut with introduction and commentary by the director.

And there's more! An all new concept spinner car for your collection and a 72 page art production book with never-before-seen Ridley sketches, poster art and photos from the set.

The Blade Runner 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition comes out October 23rd, 2012 and may be pre-ordered.

The CW Orders Pilot for Boy Band PI Series

The CW has ordered a pilot for a crime drama featuring two former members of a boy band, who become private investigators. Titled Boiling Point — the name of their band — they use the connections they made during their "15 minutes of fame" to drum up business. Their first case, however, is to find a former band-mate, the brother of one of the partners.

Deadline reports that Craig Sweeny, who is executive producing Elementary for CBS this fall, will write the pilot script and executive produce.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff by Don Bruns is Today's Fifth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Don't Sweat the Small Stuff by Don Bruns 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.

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Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
Don Bruns
A James Lessor and Skip Moore Mystery
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing

In our review of this fourth mystery in this series, we said it is "one that will satisfy existing fans and draw in new readers."

It's official: stumbling, bumbling James Lessor and Skip Moore are licensed private investigators. Now, that's some scary stuff.

It could take time to get Moore or Less investigations off the ground, so James takes a job with a traveling carnival show. But this show has a dubious reputation, having had a string of accidents and at least one death in the past year.

When they're hired to investigate what's caused the carnival chaos, James and Skip set into motion a dizzying, roller coaster chain of events. After a terrifying trip on the Dragon Tail ride, a not-so-fun dust-up in Freddy's Fun House, and a host of threats, James and Skip realize they'll get anything but cooperation from this cantankerous cast of carnies. But when a carnival worker is murdered, James and Skip will have to act fast-because they might be next in line.For James and Skip, the only thing sweeter than the smell of corndogs and fried dough will be the sweet smell of success — but in this case, "success" means getting out alive.

This investigation is going completely off the rails.

Read our review of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff by Don Bruns.

  

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 Opium Equation by Lisa Wysocky is Today's Fourth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Opium Equation by Lisa Wysocky 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.

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The Opium Equation
Lisa Wysocky
A Cat Enright Mystery
Publisher: Cool Titles

Everyone hates Glenda. So when retired movie star Glenda Dupree was murdered at Fairbanks, her antebellum mansion near Nashville, Tennessee, there was much speculation, but no one missed her much. Prior to leaving life on earth, Glenda had managed to offend everyone in sight, including her neighbor, a (mostly) law-abiding horse trainer named Cat Enright.

Cat finds Glenda s body and is implicated in the murder, and also in the disappearance of a ten-year-old neighbor, Bubba Henley. Cat thinks Bubba s disappearance ties into the murder and realizes her name will not be cleared until he is found. Although a Henley ancestor built Fairbanks, the current Henley clan lives next door in a scruffy trailer. Because the police treat the missing boy as a runaway Cat begins her quest to find Bubba, solve Glenda s murder, and clear her name.

An unpopular sheriff and upcoming election mean the pressure to close the case is on. With the help of her riding students, a (possibly) psychic horse, a local cop, a kid named Frog, and an eccentric client of a certain age with electric blue hair, Cat takes time from her horse training business to try to solve the case and keep herself out of prison.

  

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.

No Time to Run by J. D. Trafford is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature No Time to Run by J. D. Trafford 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.

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No Time to Run
J. D. Trafford
A Michael Collins Thriller
Publisher: J. D. Trafford

Michael Collins burned his suits and ties in a beautiful bonfire before leaving New York and taking up residence at Hut No. 7 in a run-down Mexican resort. He dropped-out, giving up a future of billable hours and big law firm paychecks. But, there are millions of dollars missing from a client's account and a lot of people who want Michael Collins to come back. When his girlfriend is accused of murder, he knows that there really isn't much choice.

  

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.

Tourist Trap by Julie Smith is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Tourist Trap by Julie Smith 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.

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Tourist Trap
Julie Smith
A Rebecca Schwartz Mystery
Publisher: Julie Smith

This is the third mystery in this series, first published in hardcover by Mysterious Press in 1986.

You just know the Easter sunrise service is going to be a bummer when the San Francisco fog lifts to reveal a body nailed to a landmark cross. Next: mass shellfish poisoning at Pier 39. A very different kind of serial killer is operating here—one who seems to have a grudge against the whole city.

And this is a very different kind of serial killer tale—a funny one. Well, actually, what serial killer’s funny? But lawyer sleuth Rebecca Schwartz is warm and witty, never takes herself too seriously, and on one occasion offers closing testimony with green hair. A highly embarrassing moment, but the bright chartreuse is all in the service of making her case. No way does she believe her client would nail somebody — especially to a cross. And the things she has to do to prove it are hilarious and often unorthodox, yet always professional. Sometimes hyper-professional--the average lawyer simply can’t be bothered spraying herself with Thunderbird to fit in with her witnesses!

  

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.

Dead on Ice by Lauren Carr is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Dead on Ice by Lauren Carr 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.

— ♦ —

Dead on Ice
Lauren Carr
A Joshua Thornton and Cameron Gates Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Book Services

This is the first in a new series by the author of the "Mac Faraday" mysteries.

Spunky Cameron Gates is tasked with solving the murder of Cherry Pickens, a legendary star of pornographic films, whose body turns up in an abandoned freezer. The case has a personal connection to her lover, Joshua Thornton, because the freezer was located in his cousin's basement. It doesn't take long for their investigation to reveal that the risqué star's roots were buried in their rural Ohio Valley community, something that Cherry had kept off her show business bio. She should have kept her hometown off her road map, too — because when this starlet came running home from the mob, it proved to be a fatal homecoming.

  

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 07, 2012

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending September 7th, 2012 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

There are actually few changes in the list this week, some shuffling in order though the stand-alone thriller Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn remains a strong number one. Two new titles enter the list (position in parentheses).

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(10): Zoo
James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

All over the world, brutal attacks are crippling entire cities. Jackson Oz, a young biologist, watches the escalating events with an increasing sense of dread. When he witnesses a coordinated lion ambush in Africa, the enormity of the violence to come becomes terrifyingly clear.

With the help of ecologist Chloe Tousignant, Oz races to warn world leaders before it's too late. The attacks are growing in ferocity, cunning, and planning, and soon there will be no place left for humans to hide.

            

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(11): Garment of Shadows
Laurie R. King

In a strange room in Morocco, Mary Russell is trying to solve a pressing mystery: Who am I? She has awakened with shadows in her mind, blood on her hands, and soldiers pounding on the door. Out in the hivelike streets, she discovers herself strangely adept in the skills of the underworld, escaping through alleys and rooftops, picking pockets and locks. She is clothed like a man, and armed only with her wits and a scrap of paper containing a mysterious Arabic phrase. Overhead, warplanes pass ominously north.

Meanwhile, Holmes is pulled by two old friends and a distant relation into the growing war between France, Spain, and the Rif Revolt led by Emir Abd el-Krim — who may be a Robin Hood or a power mad tribesman. The shadows of war are drawing over the ancient city of Fez, and Holmes badly wants the wisdom and courage of his wife, whom he's learned, to his horror, has gone missing. As Holmes searches for her, and Russell searches for herself, each tries to crack deadly parallel puzzles before it's too late for them, for Africa, and for the peace of Europe.