Mystery Godoku Puzzle for February 11, 2008

A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle has been created by the editors of the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and is now 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 and mystery clue:  A D E H M N O R W. This was the 4th mystery in the Cat Marsala series by Barbara D’Amato (9 letters).

New! We now have our puzzles in PDF format for easier printing. Print this week's puzzle here.

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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Mystery Book Review: The Secret Scroll by Ronald Cutler

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

The Secret Scroll by Ronald Cutler
Non-series

Beaufort Books (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-8253-0515-2 (0825305152)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8253-0515-3 (9780825305153)
Publication Date: February 2008
List Price: $24.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): Josh Cohan, a work-obsessed archaeology professor, has a recurring dream about a great secret. He follows his instincts to the Judean desert, where he makes a fantastic discovery an ancient scroll which seems to have been written by Jesus Christ. The Israeli Antiquities Authority has a claim on the scroll, but another, more sinister organization wants the scroll as well. The Guardians, members of an ancient extremist religious sect, are willing to kill to get what they want.

Josh joins the government-sponsored team of translators who believe the scroll might be genuine, and falls in love with Danielle, the fiery daughter of one of the translators. When a friend turns up dead and Danielle goes missing, Josh realizes that the scroll might be more powerful and controversial than he had ever imagined. Will Josh be able to prevent something terrible from happening to the woman he loves without giving up the most important discovery mankind has ever made?

Review: Ronald Cutler's debut novel, The Secret Scroll, is an imaginative tale that reaches to the center of Jerusalem where the great religions of the world converge in a single city.

Josh Cohan, a disillusioned Professor of Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania, takes a much-needed sabbatical from the politics of the university museum hierarchy where he is employed and travels to Israel where he has been many times before. While he is driving through the hills of Masada where there is so much history, he feels he is meant to go to find a hidden cave. When he finds the cave, he unearths an ancient cylinder containing a scroll that he could tell has been buried for many years. Although it is a requirement of the law to present any archaeological find to the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA), Josh decides to take it to his hotel for his own expert examination. After all, it had been buried for at least 2000 years; a few more days wouldn’t hurt. With surgical gloved hands he removes the scroll and sees that the words are written in Aramaic, a language he had studied at the university. He translates a few sentences and it becomes aware that these words were written by the man known today as Jesus Christ.

Josh turns over the scroll to the IAA which consists of seven men of different faiths. It is their responsibility to investigate the find, and when finished attest to its authenticity or declare it a fraud. Because of the nature of the scroll, the men decide it would be best to keep the discovery a secret. Even if it was a fraud, much unwelcome chaos could be brought to bear. If it proved to be true, it would change the beliefs of many churches and synagogues around the world. Everyone agreed, including Josh. There was one among them, however, who though he agreed did not keep the secret. This man was a member of a secret, very prejudiced religious cult dating back at least 200 years. The cult hated Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Protestants, and any other sect that did not believe as they taught. They had already killed, and now they were willing to kill again to get their hands on the scroll and destroy it. As Josh tries to discover the man in the IAA who had betrayed them, their leader (the "Master”) kidnaps the woman Josh loves, whose safe return is guaranteed in exchange for the scroll.

Cutler cleverly weaves history, scholarly writings, and a fictional story with (admittedly) a fair amount of speculation into a very suspenseful novel that races toward a thrilling conclusion. The "damsel in distress" aspect is a bit overdone, but otherwise the plot is well reasoned with believable characters.

The Secret Scroll is not only very well written and inventive, it is a thought-provoking novel that is both enthralling and entertaining.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Secret Scroll and to Meryl L. Moss Media Relations for providing an ARC of the book for this review.

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

For more mystery book reviews visit Mysterious Reviews, a partner with the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books which is committed 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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Compendium of Mystery News 080209

A compendium of recently published mystery news articles:

• The New York Times is reporting that Phyllis A. Whitney, a prolific best-selling author of romantic mysteries, young-adult novels and children’s mysteries for more than a half-century, has died. She was 104. In 1988 Ms. Whitney received the prestigious Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement from the Mystery Writers of America. (MBN note: Some of the earliest memories we have of reading mysteries are the children's mysteries written by Ms. Whitney. How many times we wished we still had those books.)

• Publishers Weekly has an interesting article on mass market paperbacks and the role they play in the bookselling marketplace.

• John Lichfield of The Independent talks to French literary critic and psychoanalyst Pierre Bayard who is attempting to invent a new literary genre. He calls himself a "critical detective". He reinvestigates the plots of famous books, correcting the errors of their authors and reversing literary injustices.

• Terrence P. McCauley has won "The Search for the Next Great Crime Writer" contest from Borders, truTV and Gather.com. McCauley's manuscript, Prohibition, was chosen as a semi-finalist by the Gather.com community and then picked out of the finalists by a panel of judges including authors David Baldacci, Sandra Brown and Harlan Coben. (Read the Press Release on FoxBusiness.com.)

• Lighthouse Interactive, a leading publisher of video games for the PC, has confirmed that Belief & Betrayal will ship in late March, 2008. As journalist Jonathan Danter, you discover that a ten year old murder is somehow part of a greater mystery that could destroy humanity itself. Filled with baffling plot twists and conspiracy theories, you must uncover the mystery that reaches back through history. (MBN note: Belief & Betrayal is available for pre-order on the Games of Mystery website.)

• In other game news, Professor Layton and the Curious Village is being released this week for the Nintendo DS. In the curious village of St. Mystere, townsfolk greet each other with rebuses, lock their doors with sliding puzzles and hide their secrets within brainteasers. When a wealthy baron passes away, his will reveals an elusive treasure hidden someplace inside the village. Now it's up to Professor Layton to untangle St. Mystere's riddles and puzzles, find the hidden treasure and crack the case. (MBN news: Find more mystery games for the Ninendo DS at Games of Mystery: Ninendo DS.)

• Here's a movie / mystery book tie-in we missed: the Gates Family Mysteries featuring none other than the Gates family of the National Treasure movies. The first title, Changing Tides, was released last fall. The second, Midnight Ride, will be published next month. The books, written by Catherine Hapka and published by Disney Press, are intended for young adults. (MBN note: We'll be adding this series to our First Clues: Mysteries for Kids website in the near future.)

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Pre-Order Discounted Mysteries: Featured Titles for 02/12/2008

Amazon.com recently began offering an additional 5% discount on selected titles if ordered before the publication date. We've collected the most popular mysteries that are included in this program and listed them on a new site, Pre-Order Mysteries.

Each week we'll feature here those titles that are scheduled for publication during the coming week to alert you that the pre-order discount from Amazon.com for these titles will end after the books are published. On the Pre-Order Mysteries website, we have eligible titles scheduled to be published over the next 6 weeks that you may pre-order.

This week's featured pre-order discounted mysteries:

The Ghost War by Alex Berenson. The second mystery in the John Wells series. Scheduled publication date: 02/12/2008.

Burn Zone by James O. Born. The second mystery in the Alex Duarte series. Scheduled publication date: 02/12/2008.

To qualify for the additional 5% discount at checkout, you must order these books prior to their date of publication. See the terms and conditions for the 5% discount program on the Amazon.com site or at Pre-Order Mysteries.

Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed 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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Mystery Bestsellers for February 08, 2008

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending February 08, 2008 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

Three new novels enter the mystery bestseller list this week.

The seventh entry in the Women's Murder Club series by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, 7th Heaven, debuts in the 8th position. A terrible fire in a wealthy suburban home leaves a married couple dead and Detective Lindsay Boxer and her partner Rich Conklin searching for clues. And after California's golden boy, Michael Campion has been missing for a month, there finally seems to be a lead in his case--a very devastating lead. As fire after fire consume couples in wealthy, comfortable homes, Lindsay and the Murder Club must race to find the arsonists responsible and get to the bottom of Michael Campion's disappearance. But suddenly the fires are raging too close to home. Frightened for her life and torn between two men, Lindsay must find a way to solve the most daunting dilemmas she's ever faced--at work and at home. Publishers Weekly calls 7th Heaven "gripping" and adds, "Fans won't be disappointed with the twist at the end that not even Lindsay sees coming."

Debuting in 9th position is the seventh mystery in the Jesse Stone series by Robert B. Parker, Strangers in Paradise. The last time Jesse Stone, chief of police of Paradise, Massachusetts, saw Wilson "Crow" Cromartie, the Apache Indian hit man was racing away in a speedboat after executing one of the most lucrative and deadly heists in the town's history, never to be seen again. Until now. So when Crow shows up in Jesse's office some ten years after the crime, it's not to turn himself in. Crow is on another job, and this time he's asking for Jesse's help-by asking him to stay out of his way. Crow's mission is simple: find young Amber Francisco and bring her back to her father, Louis, in Florida. It should be an easy payday for a pro like Crow, but there are complications. Meanwhile, Jesse's on-again, off-again relationship with ex-wife Jenn picks up steam. However, the life of a young girl hangs in the balance, and saving Amber could be the miracle Jesse and his Jenn need for themselves, too. Publishers Weekly calls Stranger in Paradise "sizzling" and states that "Stone and Crow make an appealing odd couple." (MBN note: For more information about the Jesse Stone character, visit Squidoo: Jesse Stone. Also, to purchase the movies made from the books in this series, visit Mysteries on TV: Jesse Stone.)

The third newcomer this week is L. A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker, the 15th thriller in his California crime series. Los Angeles is gripped by the exploding celebrity of Allison Murietta, her real identity unknown, a modern-day Jesse James with the compulsion to steal beautiful things, the vanity to invite the media along, and the conscience to donate much of her bounty to charity. Nobody ever gets hurt - until a job ends with ten gangsters lying dead and a half-million dollars worth of glittering diamonds missing. Rookie Deputy Charlie Hood discovers the bodies, and he prevents an eyewitness - a schoolteacher named Suzanne Jones - from leaving the scene. Drawn to a mysterious charisma that has him off-balance from the beginning, Hood begins an intense affair with Suzanne. As the media frenzy surrounding Allison's exploits swells to a fever pitch and the Southland's most notorious killer sets out after her, a glimmer of recognition blooms in Hood, forcing him to choose between a deeply held sense of honor and a passion that threatens to consume him completely. The Washington Post states of Parker, "All his skills are on display here: vivid writing, strong characters, clockwork plotting, agonizing suspense and, finally, an ending that manages to be just right."

On our bestseller page, we've added an icon next to every title that is available for immediate download onto the Amazon Kindle. To learn about this wireless reading device, visit the Amazon Kindle page for more information.

The top four mystery bestsellers this week are depicted below:

Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed 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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Mystery Book Review: Shades of Blue by Bill Moody

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of Shades of Blue by Bill Moody. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Shades of Blue by Bill Moody
An Evan Horne Mystery

Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-485-6 (1590584856)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-485-9 (9781590584859)
Publication Date: February 2008
List Price: $24.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): After several months of successful work in London and Amsterdam with American expatriate Fletcher Paige, Evan Horne returns to the states and settles in the San Francisco Bay Area. There he reunites with his girlfriend, FBI agent, Andie Lawrence. And Evan quickly makes inroads into the Bay Area jazz scene. Life is good until a phone call from a Los Angeles attorney turns his life upside down.

Evan’s old friend and former mentor, pianist Calvin Hughes, has died, and named Evan as his sole beneficiary. Evan is shocked to learn that Hughes has left him his small Hollywood house, money, and all his possessions. But when Evan begins to play through some hand-written sheet music, he recognizes one as a song from the landmark Miles Davis recording Birth of the Cool, and another from Kind of Blue, arguably one of the most important recordings in modern jazz. Was Calvin Hughes the uncredited composer of one or both of these tunes, or was it simply Hughes’s transcriptions from the recordings?

In addition, Evans finds a cryptic note, and a photo taken almost 40 years earlier—a young Cal with his hand on a baby carriage. Both are taped to the bottom of a dresser drawer. A friend of Cal’s Lisa Gaines will continue to take care of Milton and rent from Evan. Evan is soon on a whirl-wind journey across the country to find answers from his family and to confront his mother. What was her relationship with Calvin Hughes? And just how did Jazz come into the equation?

Review: After an absence of nearly 6 years, Bill Moody returns with Shades of Blue, the 6th book in his series featuring jazz musician Evan Horne. Not a murder mystery per se, but an intriguing investigation into the past.

Shortly after returning to San Francisco from a jazz engagement in Europe, Even receives a phone call from a lawyer informing him that his former piano teacher, mentor, and close friend Calvin Hughes has died. In the late 40s and early 50s Calvin was the pianist in some very popular jazz bands and taught Evan to love the music as much as he did. To Evan's surprise, Calvin had named him the sole beneficiary of his estate which consisted of a small house in Hollywood, some money, and all his other possessions. While taking an inventory of what was there, Evan discovers handwritten sheet music of songs made popular by the renowned Miles Davis Trio. Calvin had been their pianist. Though Miles was credited as the author, Evan cannot help but wonder if Calvin was the true composer. Evan also finds, taped to the bottom of a drawer, a cryptic note and a picture of Calvin with a baby in a carriage. Calvin had never married and neither Evan nor others than knew Calvin could ever remember him mentioning having a child. Another mystery surfaces when an unknown woman is named as the beneficiary of Calvin's life insurance. Clearly Calvin had secrets that he kept well hidden even from his closest friends. As Evan crosses the country to understand more about his late friend's life, he ultimately hears a shocking story from an unexpected source: his mother.

Shades of Blue is one of those atmospheric novels that relies more on how the plot unfolds and the manner in which it is told is than on the story itself. One knows that something is going to happen, but it isn't clear what it is, and how or when it will occur. From that perspective, this is a suspenseful novel. The characters are all well-rounded and the jazz setting lends a noir-ish feel to the whole book. An interesting story to be sure, yet in the end it all seems a bit incomplete as if there could have been, or should have been, something more.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Shades of Blue and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.

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

For more mystery book reviews visit Mysterious Reviews, a partner with the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books which is committed 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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Mystery Book Contests: Don Bruns, St. Barts Breakdown

Mystery Book Contests is thrilled to join Don Bruns and his publisher, Oceanview Publishing, in offering you a chance to win a signed copy of Don's upcoming Mick Sever mystery, St. Barts Breakdown. We're also giving away a $100 gift card that you may use to help you get away to your mystery destination!

To enter the contest, visit Mystery Book Contests, provide your name and e-mail address and correctly answer the contest question. You may enter once daily. No purchase is required to enter or to win. For more information, see the Official Contest Rules.

St. Barts Breakdown is the fourth mystery in this series featuring rock-and-roll journalist Mick Sever and this time his assignment is to interview music legen Danny Murtz. Murtz's walls are lined with platinum records, but his closet is full of skeletons. Known for producing an unbelievable string of hits, Murtz is also tied to a string of disappearances. Seems a number of Murtz's romantic conquests have vanished into thin air. After his latest incident, Murtz conveniently retreats to his secluded St. Bart villa. After receiving anonymous threats, Murtz is convinced someone wants to bring him down. And that meddlesome Mick Sever is digging too deep. Sun, sand and a psychopath: it's a deadly mix.

Please also visit our Mystery Book Sweepstakes website where we give away two prize packages consisting of 5 first edition hardcover mysteries every month!

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Mysteries on TV: Rosemary & Thyme and Wire in the Blood

Two new DVD sets of mystery and suspense television series are being released this week.

One of the more delightful British mystery series that recently completed its run was Rosemary & Thyme. Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris starred as Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme owners of Rosemary & Thyme, a professional gardening service. Of course the two were amateur sleuths as well! The series featured some magnificant gardens throughout the English countryside.

The Rosemary & Thyme: The Complete Series DVD set is comprised of 9 disks that include all 22 episodes from the original series that aired on ITV1 from 2003 through 2007.

The fourth season of another UK series, Wire in the Blood, included 4 episodes (really more like 4 made-for-television movies) that aired on ITV1 in the fall of 2006. The series stars Robson Green as Dr. Tony Hill, a clinical psychologist whose extraordinary understanding of the criminal mind is an asset to the police. The series is based on the character created by mystery author Val McDermid.

Wire in the Blood is a returning series having just aired its 5th season on ITV1. More information on the series can be found on the Wire in the Blood home page on ITV.com. The Wire in the Blood: Season 4 DVD set is comprised of 4 disks each of which contains an episode aired during the 4th season.

Visit the Mysteries on TV website to discover more television mystery series currently available on DVD.

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Compendium of Mystery News 080204

A compendium of recently published mystery news articles:

• Oline H. Cogdill talks to Lee Child in her column on Sun-Sentinel.com.

• The New York Times Sunday Book Review calls the annual Edgar Award nominee list "an essential, against-the-grain reading guide." There's also a brief paragraph on whether or not winning an Edgar affects a writer's career.

• Also in The New York Times is an entertaining article on what makes great literature. The assumption, they write, is "that genre fiction — mysteries, thrillers, romances, horror stories — is a form of literary slumming. These kinds of books are easier to read, we tend to think, and so they must be easier to write, and to the degree that they’re entertaining, they can’t possibly be serious." (This article may require free registration to read, but definitely worthwhile!)

• The winner of truTV's Search for the Next Great Crime Writer Contest is being announced tonight on truTV (formerly Court TV). Gather.com, which is co-hosting the contest, provides an overview of the 5 finalists including a synopsis of their books. The winner of last year's contest, The Anatomists by Hal McDonald (and originally titled A Simple Case of Revenge), is being published later this month by HarperTorch.

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Mystery Godoku Puzzle for February 04, 2008

A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle has been created by the editors of the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and is now 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 and mystery clue: A D E H I L R T Z. In this 12th mystery by Robin Paige, death was on this peninsula in southwest England (9 letters).

New! We now have our puzzles in PDF format for easier printing. Print this week's puzzle here.

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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Kindle Mysteries: New Mystery Book Titles for February 2008

A list of about 40 new mystery books scheduled for publication in February 2008 and available for the Kindle, Amazon's wireless reading device, has been posted to the Kindle Mysteries website.

This month's profiled Kindle title ... Robert B. Parker returns with the 7th mystery in the Jesse Stone series, Stranger in Paradise. Earlier books in the series have been made into the popular made-for-television movies starring Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone. The first movie was Stone Cold which is based on the 4th book in the series. The next movie aired, Night Passage, was marketed as a prequel since it was based on the 1st book in the series. The two other movies were Death in Paradise (3rd movie and 3rd book) and Sea Change (4th movie and 5th book). All but Sea Change are currently available on DVD; Sea Change will be released later this month. A 5th movie is currently in production, Thin Ice, but it is not based on any of the previous Parker books in the Jesse Stone series. Fans of both the series books or movies will want to pick up the latest mystery Stranger in Paradise available this month in hardcover or as a Kindle download. (For more information on the character, visit our Jesse Stone Squidoo lens. To purchase the DVDs in this series, visit Mysteries on TV: Jesse Stone.)

Mystery books for the Kindle are generally priced between $3.99 and $9.99 and can be downloaded immediately.

Kindle Mysteries currently has a list of almost 300 recently published mystery book titles available on our website with more added every week.

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Mystery Book Review: Atomic Lobster by Tim Dorsey

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of Atomic Lobster by Tim Dorsey. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Atomic Lobster by Tim Dorsey
A Serge A. Storms Mystery

William Morrow (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-06-082969-9 (0060829699)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-082969-8 (9780060829698)
Publication Date: January 2008
List Price: $24.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): Why is everyone rushing to flee Tampa on a cruise ship to hell?

Serge is back with a bullet, torn between homicide and souvenirs. So is Coleman, torn between getting hammered and getting more hammered. Then there's good ol' Jim Davenport, the E-Team, the Diaz Brothers, and Johnny Vegas, the Accidental Virgin, cranking up the fevered action as the pot boils over on a street called Lobster Lane.

It's reunion time in the Sunshine State, and we're not just talking the family jamboree of that blood-soaked criminal clan, the McGraws, whose nastiest, meanest member is finally released from prison and heads south bent on revenge. On top of it all, the government is covering up a growing list of mysterious victims across Florida who may or may not be connected to a nefarious plot being hatched against national security.

But wait! There's more on the horizon! Who is the oddly familiar femme fatale named Rachael? Is Serge wrong that guns, drugs, and strippers don't mix? What sets the Non-Confrontationalists off on a rampage? What finally brings Coleman and Lenny together? Will they succeed in building the biggest bong ever? And can Serge surf a rogue wave to victory?

So batten the hatches, don the life jackets, and take cover as all these questions and more are answered in this latest adventure.

Review: Tim Dorsey's 10th novel to feature the audacious, ever so reasoned if not always reasonable, adventures of Serge Storms, Atomic Lobster, has the Florida psychopath protecting his old pal Jim Davenport from the McGraw brothers, one of which Jim helped send to prison.

To fans of the series, an overview of the plot is probably not necessary since it's likely they read the books to see in which outrageous mission Serge is currently participating or in what ingenious way Serge kills his next victim. And Serge does not disappoint. For new readers, the plot is definitely secondary to the action and vaguely involves Serge acting as a mentor/protector to Jim Davenport when he's targeted by a newly released prisoner, and old ladies on a cruise ship that may be the transport vehicle for drugs (or something more sinister) from Mexico to the US. It's not quite a mystery in the whodunit sense, but there are several other elements present that would firmly place this book in that category.

The brilliance of Atomic Lobster (and yes, it is frequently brilliant) is how Dorsey carefully choreographs the activities of the large number of characters in his story and how their lives intersect in myriad ways that seem natural ... almost expected. Serge may be a cold-blooded killer, but he's a compassionate one. Those that are condemned to die deserve it (in his universal role as prosecutor, defense attorney, judge, and jury), but he usually gives them an opportunity to live albeit at some, often considerable, cost. It's all quite fascinating to read and oddly compelling.

Of the two parallel storylines, one involving Serge and Jim Davenport and the other involving the cruise ship that is largely independent of Serge, the former is more interesting, arguably more entertaining, and appears to be better thought through. The latter seems almost contrived as if it exists only so that the unexpected twist at the end (which isn't all that unexpected) can occur. The G-unit, however, make it somewhat worthwhile.

The final quarter of the book isn't nearly as strong as what comes before possibly because the various plots and subplots need to rapidly converge. The narrative is more perfunctory and loses much of its earlier edginess. And the epilogue seems particularly silly. Still, there are many funny scenes and clever passages in Atomic Lobster and, though it is definitely not a book for everyone, it is a terrific book for those who can appreciate its often satirical humor.

Special thanks to HarperCollins for providing a copy of Atomic Lobster for this review.

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

For more mystery book reviews visit Mysterious Reviews, a partner with the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books which is committed 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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Buy 1 Get 2 Free at First Edition Mysteries

First Edition Mysteries, fine mystery books from the library of the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, needs to clear some space - a lot of space - and has extended its special book sale through 06/30/2008!

Select any book from our library of thousands of titles on the First Editions Mystery website and get two additional mysteries of your choosing free. Your free mysteries must be priced at $25 or less each. (Special deal for California residents: First Edition Mysteries will pay your sales tax.)

In addition, First Edition Mysteries is offering $4.95 Flat Rate Shipping. Buy one book, buy one hundred books. Shipping is a flat $4.95 per order regardless of the number of books ordered. (Note: $4.95 shipping applies to US customers only; international customers, please contact First Edition Mysteries for information on shipments outside the US.)

The First Edition Mysteries website will be updated frequently but please note that most books listed are available as single copies only, and all are subject to prior sale.

To begin shopping for your mystery books at very special prices, visit First Edition Mysteries.

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