Thursday, January 31, 2008

New Hardcover Mysteries for February 2008

New Hardcover Mystery Books for February 2008

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books has updated its list of scheduled for publication in February 2008. Mystery series continue to be very popular with 44 of the 59 new titles being new or continuing series.

We've summarized the new mystery series hardcover titles below:

A Kind of Acquaintance by David Armstrong. Frank Kavanagh (4th).

Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter by Nancy Atherton. Aunt Dimity (13th).

Wild Inferno by Sandi Ault. Jamaica Wild (2nd).

The Devil's Bones by Jefferson Bass. Bill Brockton, Body Farm (3rd).

Death of a Gentle Lady by M. C. Beaton. Hamish Macbeth (24th).

Unknown Means by Elizabeth Becka. Evelyn James (2nd).

The Ghost War by Alex Berenson. John Wells (2nd).

Gambit by Karna Small Bodman. Cameron Talbot (2nd).

Burn Zone by James O. Born. Alex Duarte (2nd).

Wash and Die by Barbara Colley. Charlotte LaRue (7th).

Of All Sad Words by Bill Crider. Dan Rhoades (15th).

The Alpine Traitor by Mary Daheim. Emma Lord (20th).

The Poisoner of Ptah by P. C. Doherty. Amerotke (6th).

Sins of the Assassin by Robert Ferrigno. Rakkim Epps, Assassin (2nd).

Stalked by Brian Freeman. Jonathan Stride (3rd).

Irish Tiger by Andrew M. Greeley. Nueala McGrail (11th).

Cool in Tucson by Elizabeth Gunn. Sarah Burke (1st).

Hell's Bay by James W. Hall. Thorn (10th).

Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris. Paula Holliday, Dirty Business (1st).

The Killing Ground by Jack Higgins. Sean Dillon (14th).

The Black Dove by Steve Hockensmith. Holmes on the Range (3rd).

What Never Happens by Anne Holt. Johanne Vik and Adam Stubo (2nd).

Moonlight Downs by Adrian Hyland. Emily Tempest (1st). Scheduled to be reviewed by .

Final Curtain by Richard Tyler Jordan. Polly Pepper (2nd).

The Vagabond Virgins by Ken Kuhlken. Hickey Family (5th). Scheduled to be reviewed by .

Betrayal by John Lescroart. Dismas Hardy (12th).

The Eye of Jade by Diane Wei Liang. Mei Wang (1st).

The Blood Ballad by Rett MacPherson. Torie O'Shea (11th).

The Killing Room by Peter May. Li Yan and Margaret Campbell (3rd).

Slip of the Knife by Denise Mina. Paddy Meehan (3rd).

Shades of Blue by Bill Moody. Evan Horne (6th). Scheduled to be reviewed by .

As the World Churns by Tamar Myers. Magdalena Yoder, Pennsylvania Dutch (16th).

Bound by Blood by Blood by Rick Nelson. Jack Brenner (1st).

The First Patient by Michael Palmer. Medical thriller (13th).

Stranger in Paradise by Robert B. Parker. Jesse Stone (7th).

L.A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker. California Crime (15th).

Hush My Mouth by Cathy Pickens. Avery Andrews, Southern Fried (4th).

A Grave in Gaza by Matt Beynon Rees. Omar Yussef (2nd). Scheduled to be reviewed by .

Strangers in Death by J. D. Robb. Eve Dallas, In Death (26th).

Lady Killer by Lisa Scottoline. Rosato and Associates (10th).

Judas Horse by April Smith. Ana Grey (3rd).

Desert Cut by Betty Webb. Lena Jones (5th). Scheduled to be reviewed by .

The Abyssinian Proof by Jenny White. Kamil Pasha (2nd).

An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear. Maisie Dobbs (5th). Scheduled to be reviewed by .

For more information on any of these titles, please visit the page on our website. If you're interested in new paperbacks, visit where you can discover a library of new mysteries.

Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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Mystery Book Review: The Marathon Murders by Chester Campbell

Mysterious ReviewsMysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of The Marathon Murders by Chester Campbell. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

The Marathon Murders by Chester CampbellBuy from Amazon.com
The Marathon Murders by
A Greg McKenzie Mystery

Night Shadows Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-9799167-0-4 (0979916704)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9799167-0-0 (9780979916700)
Publication Date: February 2008
List Price: $26.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): Greg and Jill take on what appears to be a 90-year-old murder case, dragging them into a present-day conspiracy filled with chicanery in circles of power and chaos created by a frenzied killer.

It starts with a stash of yellowed records found during restoration of the long-defunct Marathon Motor Works’ buildings in Nashville. The documents vanish, and the construction foreman who had them is murdered. The McKenzies’ clients, Col. Warren Jarvis (who first appeared in Secret of the Scroll) and his girlfriend, Kelli Kane, believe the records would shed light on the fate of her great-great-grandfather. A Marathon officer who disappeared in 1914, he was accused of embezzlement and later found dead. More murders occur, appearing aimed at suppressing the secret behind the missing records.

It’s a tale of greed, misplaced pride, family loyalty, and the unpredictable violence of an irrational mind.

Review: Greg and Jill McKenzie's new business as a private investigation service in Nashville unexpectedly gets a case involving a 90-year-old embezzlement and murder in The Marathon Murders, the 4th mystery in this series by Chester Campbell.

Bored with retirement, Greg and Jill open a storefront in a suburban mall offering their services as private investigators, most of their business coming from local legal firms. One day, however, Colonel Jarvis, Greg’s commanding officer in the Air Corps, brings them a young woman, Kelli, who has a nearly century-old case to solve. Her great grandfather, eighty-four year old Sydney Liggett, had called Kelli and asked her to come to Nashville. Now in a nursing home, he had received a call from Pierce Bradley, a foreman on a reconstruction job of the old Marathon Motor Works, manufacturers of a popular touring car, formerly owned by the Liggetts. Bradley had found a stash of papers with the name of Sydney’s grandfather on them. He thought Sydney would want them as with just a glance it looked as if Arthur, Marathon’s assistant treasurer, had discovered discrepancies totaling $200,000. Evidently Arthur was going to take the papers to the District Attorney, but for some reason hid them behind the paneling in his office where a member of the construction crew found them. Arthur was found dead in an abandoned garage five years later. Although the Liggetts lost Marathon Motors, and Sydney accused of embezzlement, the family never believed it was true. Now, Bradley has disappeared and so have the papers. Greg and Jill are hired not only find Bradley and the papers, but to figure out what really happened so long ago.

This intriguing mystery takes Greg and Jill into Nashville's high society as the couple pursue their missing persons investigation that ultimately leads to the murder of three other people who may, or may not, be part of their case. Despite their relatively recent status as professionals in the field, they make a terrific team as private investigators.

The Marathon Murders is a pleasure to read. The are a number of interesting twists and turns, and deciphering the clues to the puzzle presented to the McKenzies, and determining what is true and what is fiction in the stories told to them, is a real thrill. Also the fact that Marathon Motors was once a real company in Nashville, and had its own somewhat mysterious financial difficulties resulting in its closing in 1914, adds to the authenticity of the story.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of for contributing her review of The Marathon Murders and to Chester Campbell for providing an ARC of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

For more visit Mysterious Reviews, a partner with the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books which is committed to providing readers and collectors of with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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