Profile: For Nora Roberts, Writing Novels is a 9-to-5 Job

Ben Nuckols of the Canadian Press writes that endless of imagination aren't all it takes to write 165 novels. It also requires the discipline of a drill sergeant.

Roberts is in the middle of a typically busy year. Her latest romantic suspense book, Angels Fall, came out this summer. Later this year will bring the release of a new "In Death" mystery featuring Eve Dallas, written under the pseudonym J. D. Robb, and three romantic fantasy paperbacks, The Circle Trilogy, in successive months. There's also a new J. D. Robb novella published as part of an anthology.

"I think I have a really strong work ethic, plus I really love the work. I think if you love what you do, you do a lot of it. I have a lot of discipline ... and I have a fast pace," the 55-year-old author says.

Since her first New York Times bestseller in 1991, her books have spent 660 weeks on the Times list of bestsellers, including 100 weeks in the top spot. Each book published under the Nora Roberts name since 1999 has been a bestseller; there are 280 million Roberts books in print. She is published in 35 countries. Her books sold 12 million copies in 2005, according to Publishers Weekly.

Roberts' favorite hobby - gardening - appeals to her meticulous, workaholic nature and keeps her close to home, which she prefers. She talks enthusiastically about weeding and warding off the deer that might want to munch on her lilies, as she strolls through her multitiered garden.

Read the entire profile of Nora Roberts on Canada.com here.

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books is commited to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series. Please visit often!

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News: Trailer Available for The Black Dahlia

James Ellroy's bestselling crime novel, The Black Dahlia, weaves a fictionalized tale of obsession, love, corruption, greed and depravity around the true story of the brutal murder of a fledgling Hollywood starlet that shocked and fascinated the nation in 1947 and remains unsolved today. Brian De Palma directs the screen adaptation of the book, the trailer of which is now available on Yahoo! movies.

Two ex-pugilist cops, Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) and Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett), are called to investigate the homicide of ambitious silver-screen B-lister Betty Ann Short (Mia Kirshner) also known as "The Black Dahlia". The attack was so grisly that images of the killing were kept from the public. While Blanchard's growing preoccupation with the sensational murder threatens his marriage to Kay (Scarlett Johansson), his partner Bleichert finds himself attracted to the enigmatic Madeleine Linscott (two-time Academy Awary winner Hilary Swank), the daughter of one of the city's most prominent families ... who just happens to have an unsavory connection to the murder victim.

The Black Dahlia is expected to be released in theaters on September 15, 2006.

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books is commited to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series. Please visit often!

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Mystery Hardcover Bestsellers (08/04/2006)

A list of the top ten mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending August 04, 2006 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

The writing team of James Patterson and Andrew Gross top the bestseller list this week with Judge & Jury. Senior FBI agent Nick Pellisante is closing in on the notorious mob boss "The Electrician," when the scheduled sting goes spectacularly awry. Two FBI agents are dead, the boss is wounded, and Pellisante vows the Electrician's next move will be from a jail cell. Andie Echeverra, a part-time actress and a single, full-time mom, is assigned her next role as Juror #11 in the landmark trial against Mafia Don Dominic Cavello. Everybody is on edge. No one has ever crossed the man whose orders have made entire families disappear. Though Cavello's influence extends across blue uniforms and black robes, the case should be open-and-shut. But the legal system fails with devastating results, and Nick and Andie are the only ones left to seek justice. To stop the Electrician, they must take matters into their own hands. They are the judge and jury now.

Also debuting in the top ten this week: the haunting story of three cops—one good, one bad, one broken—and the murder that reunited them in a showdown decades in the making is the premise of The Night Gardener by George P. Pelecanos. Reviews have been enthusiastically positive for this book. The New York Times calls it "... beautifully delineated moral tales, filled with gut-wrenching turns of fate and razor-sharp, boisterously vivid characters." Publishers Weekly adds that "Pelecanos ... delivers a dignified, character-driven epic that succeeds as both literary novel and page-turner."

Visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books often where we provide readers and collectors of mysteries with the best and most current information about their favorite mystery authors, books, and series.

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Press Release: HarperCollins Launches "Browse Inside"

New York, NY (August 3, 2006)—HarperCollins Publishers is proud to announce a series of digital initiatives, including the beta launch of "Browse Inside," a new application allowing consumers to sample pages of HarperCollins titles online. The implementation of expanded digital technologies signals the latest development in the HarperCollins global digital warehouse initiative and emphasizes the company's commitment to reach consumers on the Web by providing robust content in a wide variety of digital formats.

Anchored by a contemporary redesign of its Web site (www.harpercollins.com), HarperCollins' digital initiatives also include a consumer-driven home page, featuring a daily snapshot of the most highly-viewed, "Today's Most Popular Pages," as well as revamped author and title pages. A broad range of digital media content will also be introduced.

"Browse Inside" will commence with a number of authors including mystery author Lisa Scottoline.

Read the entire press release from HarperCollins.com here.

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News: Police Station Honors Inspector Morse

BBC News is reporting that a plaque honoring Inspector Morse has been unveiled at the police station in Oxford where the fictional TV drama character was based. The Inspector Morse Society has erected the plaque to mark the station's importance in the fictional detective's career which has brought thousands of tourists to Oxford.

Colin Dexter, author of the Morse novels, was at St. Aldates station on Sunday to formally uncover the tribute. The Jaguar car used in the TV series by the late actor John Thaw, who played Morse, was at the event.

Read the entire article on bbc.co.uk here.

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Mystery Book Review: A Merry Band of Murderers

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written our review of A Merry Band of Murderers, edited by Claudia Bishop and Don Bruns. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

A Merry Band of Murderers, edited by Claudia Bishop and Don Bruns
An Original Mystery Anthology of Songs and Stories
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-301-9 (1590583019)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-301-2 (9781590583012)
Publication Date: August, 2006
List Price: $24.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): A Merry Band of Murderers is more than a compilation of short mystery stories from some of the genre’s finest writers. It is also an exploration of music. Conceived by Claudia Bishop and Don Bruns, the collection is staged in two acts: first, a non-fiction discussion of short stories, mysteries, and music; and second, a compilation of musical short mysteries.

The first act opens with an essay by Bishop explaining the role of the short story in mystery writing and another essay by Bruns discussing writers who play, sing, and compose.

The second act is more whimsical. There are thirteen music-centered stories from authors Mary Anna Evans, Jim Fusilli, Bill Moody, Rupert Holmes, Rhys Bowen, John Lescroart, Nathan Walpole, Peter Robinson, Jeffery Deaver, Tom Corcoran, Val McDermid, and, of course, the editors themselves. Each story is accompanied by a short introduction, song lyrics, and an interview with the writer.

The book is packaged with a music CD with recordings by the authors. A one-of-a-kind collection.

Review: Publishers take a risk with anthologies in that they rarely appeal to a broad range of readers. Poisoned Pen Press has mitigated this risk in two ways with A Merry Band of Murderers: by assembling a collection of short story mysteries that are similar in style (not a vampire, cozy cat, or Prada shoe in sight) and have a common theme (music). The success of this book is likely to be based on two factors: how many of the 13 stories are "good" and how many of these stories seamlessly integrate the author's original musical compositions into the plot.

With respect to the first criterion, A Merry Band of Murderers is a winner. Eight of the thirteen mystery stories are competently written, have carefully constructed plots, and include interesting, well-defined characters. Three are particularly noteworthy: Mary Anna Evans' Land of the Flowers, Jeffrey Deaver's The Fan, and Val McDermid's Long Black Veil. (Two to skip: Rupert Holmes' Shuffle which is decidedly creepy, and not in a good way; and Courage, the dreadful story by Don Bruns, the only rational reason being for its inclusion in this anthology is that Bruns is an editor.)

A Merry Band of Murderers is less successful when measured against the second criterion. Only three, maybe four, stories have a musical element that forms an integral part of the plot. In some, music plays no role whatsoever.

Each story ends with an overview of the author's musical composition and an interview along the lines of Inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton.

On balance, A Merry Band of Murderers is an admirable anthology of short stories by a skilled company of mystery authors. The fact that the authors are also accomplished musicians seems more coincidental than intentional.

Special thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of A Merry Band of Murderers for this review. (Note: The CD that will accompany the publication of A Merry Band of Murderers was not available at the time this review was written.)

Review Copyright © 2006 Hidden Staircase Mystery Books

Visit Mysterious Reviews for other reviews of current and upcoming mystery books. The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books is commited to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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The Mystery Bookshelf: New Paperback Mysteries for August 2006

The Mystery Bookshelf has posted a list of new paperback mysteries expected to be available in August 2006.

Some of the mystery authors whose books are coming out in paperback this month include:

Sarah Andrews, Dead Dry, the 10th Em Hansen mystery;
Joanne Carl, Chocolate Bridal Bash, the 6th Chocoholic mystery;
John J. Lamb, Mournful Teddy, the 1st Bear Collector's mystery;
Margaret Maron, Rituals of the Season, the 11th Deborah Knott mystery;
Cathy Pickens, Done Gone Wrong, the 2nd Avery Andrews mystery;

and over 25 more!

Titles are maintained on The Mystery Bookshelf for 6 months, and are available for browsing by author, series character, or date of publication. You may also use our search tool to find all current and archived titles.

Thank you for visiting The Mystery Bookshelf!

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Mystery Trivia for August 2006

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books has posted new mystery trivia questions for August 2006. Admittedly, this month's questions aren't exactly about mysteries, but we were doing some background work on Michael Crichton and thought the information on which we based our trivia questions was particularly interesting. Back to more mainstream mysteries next month!

According to his website, Michael Crichton wrote this book on a bet that he could not make an entertaining story out of Beowulf. What is its title?

What was the title of the movie made from this book? (Hint: It starred Antonio Banderas.)

Visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books to see the answers to these questions as well as previous mystery book trivia questions from prior months.

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books provides readers and collectors of mysteries with the best and most current information about their favorite mystery authors, books, and series.

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Mystery Book Review: Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written our review of Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear
A Maisie Dobbs Mystery
Henry Holt and Company (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-8050-7898-3 (0805078983)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-7898-5 (9780805078985)
Publication Date: September 2006
List Price: $24.00

Synopsis (from the publisher): London, 1931. The night before an exhibition of his artwork opens at a famed Mayfair gallery, the controversial artist Nick Bassington-Hope falls to his death. The police rule it an accident, but Nick's twin sister, Georgina, a wartime journalist and a infamous figure in her own right, isn't convinced.

When the authorities refuse to consider her theory that Nick was murdered, Georgina seeks out a fellow graduate from Girton College, Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator, for help. Nick was a veteran of World War I, and before long the case leads Maisie to the desolate beaches of Dungeness in Kent, and into the sinister underbelly of the city's art world.

Maisie once again uncovers the perilous legacy of the Great War in a society struggling to recollect itself. But to solve the mystery of Nick's death, Maisie will have to keep her head as the forces behind the artist's fall come out of the shadows to silence her.

Review: Multiple award winning author Jacqueline Winspear will likely garner more laurels with Messenger of Truth, the outstanding fourth mystery to feature psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs.

Hired to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Nick Bassington-Hope, an artist of some renown, Maisie must determine why, if his death wasn't accidental, someone would want him dead. Was he involved in some nefarious art scheme gone awry? Was he killed as a result of some personal vendetta? Or was it simply, as the police claim, an unfortunate accident? At one point Maisie muses that her efforts on the case are like creating a piece of art, "... building a picture across uneven terrain, telling a story by adding detail to give life and momentum to the masterwork."

Winspear's eloquent prose is abundant in Messenger of Truth. When Maisie struggles to tie together the loose threads of her case, each step of her investigation is described as "... another drop of water on stone, gradually wearing down the hard shell that time and circumstance had wrapped around clarity." Magnificent. The author also has a flair for capturing the unique speech patterns of the social classes of 1930s England.

The rationale for Nick's death seems somewhat subordinate to the articulate writing, finely drawn characters, reasoned investigative process, and atmospheric settings. Notwithstanding this, Messenger of Truth will almost certainly be remembered as one of the best mysteries of the year.

Special thanks to FSB Associates for providing an ARC of Messenger of Truth for this review.

Review Copyright © 2006 Hidden Staircase Mystery Books

Visit Mysterious Reviews for other reviews of current and upcoming mystery books. The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books is commited to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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Weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle for 07/31/2006

A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle has been created by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and is available on our website.

Godoku is similar to Sudoku, but uses letters instead of numbers. To give you a headstart, we provide you a mystery clue to fill in a complete row or column (if you choose to use it!).

This week's letters: G H I K N O R T W. This week's mystery clue: San Francisco detective Kate Martinelli is featured in this 4th mystery in a series by Laurie R. King (9 letters).

Previous puzzles are stored in the Mystery Godoku Archives.

Enjoy the weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle from the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, and Thanks for visiting our website!

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Profile: The Unlikely Father of Miami Crime Fiction

(Editor's note: We often try to find profiles of mystery authors that are published in newspapers or magazines that have online editions; they're usually charming, witty, and offer a unique perspective on the author's bibliography and style of writing. Today, we came across an article in the Atlantic Monthly written over 6 years ago on Charles Willeford. We're not sure why this article suddenly reappeared, possibly having some peripheral association with the release this weekend of the new movie Miami Vice, but it is worthy of a summary here.)

Charles Willeford, who died 18 years ago, might be called the progenitor of the modern South Florida crime novel though his detectives do precious little detecting, writes Marshall Jon Fisher on The Atlantic Online. Willeford's last four novels (1984-1988) spanned Miami's metamorphosis from vacationer and retiree haven to the nation's capital of glamour, drugs, and weird crime, and these inspired the post-Miami Vice group of Miami writers, including Carl Hiaasen and James W. Hall.

Fisher adds that as a very young man, Willeford considered himself a poet, and he continued to write poetry throughout his life. His real writing career, though, began with a series of eight novels published as pulp paperbacks in the 1950s and early 1960s. In them Willeford fashioned his own brand of hard-boiled prose.

Miami Blues, published in 1984, and the three subsequent novels featuring Hoke Moseley - Willeford's first cop protagonist - present a Miami in transition. After a career of paying dues, Willeford finally found commercial success in the Moseley series. He didn't have long to enjoy it. Although he was only 68, a lifetime of hard drinking and smoking was taking its toll, and he died in March, 1988.

Read the entire profile of Charles Willeford on The Atlantic Online here.

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books is commited to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series. Please visit often!

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Mystery Book Review: Crooked Lake by Nelson Brunanski

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written our review of Crooked Lake by Nelson Brunanski. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Crooked Lake by Nelson Brunanski
A Small-Town Saskatchewan Mystery
Caronel Publishing (Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-9739121-0-3 (0973912103)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9739121-0-4 (9780973912104)
Publication Date: February 2006
List Price: $16.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): When a man is murdered on the shores of Crooked Lake, easy-going Bart Bartowski sets aside work at his fly-in-fishing lodge to come to the aid of his childhood friend who’s been accused of the crime. Tempted by a beautiful young cottager and beguiled by the murdered man’s wife, Bart is dogged by RCMP detectives who want him to stay out of what they consider an open and shut case.

In his perilous pursuit of whodunit, Bart reveals the heart of a small town, taking a stab at its complacency and laying bare some of its juiciest moral dilemmas.

Review: Crooked Lake, Nelson Brunanski's first novel featuring Bart Bartowski and subtitled a small-town Saskatchewan mystery, has a genuine northern Canadian folksy appeal to it. The relatively remote locale works well as a village mystery where everyone knows everyone else yet someone still has secrets to hide.

Bart sets out to prove his friend Nick Taylor didn't use his 7 iron to murder the local land baron on the golf course where Nick worked as a greens keeper. As Bart wanders the countryside in search of clues to prove Nick's innocence, the story tends to wander with him, seeming to lose its way a few times. From a plot perspective, it's a little too convenient for Bart that the RCMP apparently have little interest in pursuing this case despite the circumstantial evidence against Nick. Bart is allowed to ask questions the officials should have posed in the first place, and then piece it all together in the end to unmask the real killer.

Nelson Brunanski's casual style of writing, with true sounding dialog and descriptive narrative, works well for both the characters and the setting. Crooked Lake would seem to be a fine debut to this new mystery series set in Saskatchewan.

Special thanks to Caronel Publishing for providing a copy of Crooked Lake for this review.

Review Copyright © 2006 Hidden Staircase Mystery Books

Visit Mysterious Reviews for other reviews of current and upcoming mystery books. The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books is commited to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

Technorati tags: mystery books blogs, mystery, mystery books, mystery book review, book review. Omnimystery keyword(s): saskatchewan, golf.

Mystery Hardcover Bestsellers (07/28/2006)

A list of the top ten mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending July 28, 2006 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

Gabriel Allon, art restorer and spy, is about to face the greatest challenge of his life in The Messenger, the latest thriller by Daniel Silva that debuts at the top of the Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com mystery hardcover bestseller lists. Allon is recovering from his grueling showdown with a Palestinian master terrorist, when terrorism comes to find him once again. In the days and weeks to come, Allon and his colleagues will find themselves in a deadly duel of wits against one of the most dangerous men in the world - a hunt that will take them across Europe to the Caribbean and back. But for them, there may simply not be enough of anything: enough time, enough facts, enough luck. All Allon can do is set his trap - and hope that he is not the one caught in it. Publishers Weekly states, "... the way Silva resolves his plot will keep readers right where he wants them: on the edges of their seats."

Visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books often where we provide readers and collectors of mysteries with the best and most current information about their favorite mystery authors, books, and series.

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Mystery Book Review: The Husband by Dean Koontz

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written our review of The Husband by Dean Koontz. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

The Husband by Dean Koontz
Non-series
Bantam (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-553-80479-0 (0553804790)
ISBN-13: 978-0-553-80479-9 (9780553804799)
Publication Date: May 2006
List Price: $27.00

Synopsis (from the publisher): What would you do for love? Would you die? Would you kill?

We have your wife. You can get her back for two million cash. Landscaper Mitchell Rafferty thinks it must be some kind of joke. He was in the middle of planting impatiens in the yard of one of his clients when his cell phone rang. Now he’s standing in a normal suburban neighborhood on a bright summer day, having a phone conversation out of his darkest nightmare.

Whoever is on the other end of the line is dead serious. He has Mitch’s wife and he’s named the price for her safe return. The caller doesn’t care that Mitch runs a small two-man landscaping operation and has no way of raising such a vast sum. He’s confident that Mitch will find a way.

If he loves his wife enough... Mitch does love her enough. He loves her more than life itself. He’s got seventy-two hours to prove it. He has to find the two million by then. But he’ll pay a lot more. He’ll pay anything.

Review: In The Husband, Dean Koontz's latest thriller, the tension slowly but inexorably builds throughout the story that at any given point one wonders how much further it can be taken. Though tempting to read in one sitting, Koontz divides The Husband into three manageable parts, giving the reader an opportunity to pause and catch their breath before continuing.

What would you do for love? Mitch Rafferty, a man of limited financial means, is thrown into a surreal world when he receives a phone call telling him that Holly, his wife, has been kidnapped, and demanding $2 million for her safe return. To indicate how serious his callers are, and as an illustration of their omnipresence, a stranger walking down the street near to where Mitch is standing is shot to death.

Would you die for love? Would you kill? There are a number of unexpected turns along the path Mitch takes in following the demands of his wife's kidnappers. The strength he finds to deal in real time with his increasingly complex situation is derived from a combination of his devotion to his wife and his determination to get her back unharmed.

Until death us do part. Holly plays a more prominent role in this final section, with the narrative alternating between Mitch's and her point of view. Koontz maintains a high level of suspense by allowing Holly to be as deceptively clever in dealing with her kidnappers as they have been with Mitch.

The Husband leaves a few plot threads loose at the end, but hits so close to home (could this possibly happen to me?) that its images will haunt the reader long after the last page has been read.

Special thanks to FSB Associates for providing a copy of The Husband for this review.

Visit Mysterious Reviews for other reviews of current and upcoming mystery books. The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books is commited to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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Weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle for 07/24/2006

A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle has been created by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and is available on our website.

Godoku is similar to Sudoku, but uses letters instead of numbers. To give you a headstart, we provide you a mystery clue to fill in a complete row or column (if you choose to use it!).

This week's mystery clue: This author writes the Constable Evan Evans and the Molly Murphy mystery series (9 letters): B E H N O R S W Y

Previous puzzles are stored in the Mystery Godoku Archives.

Enjoy the weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle from the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, and Thanks for visiting our website!

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