Mystery Book Review: Searchable Whereabouts by Tinisha Nichole Johnson

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of Searchable Whereabouts by Tinisha Nicole Johnson. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Searchable Whereabouts by Tinisha Nicole Johnson
Non-series

Xpress Yourself (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-9799757-0-0 (0979975700)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9799757-0-7 (9780979975707)
Publication Date: February 2008
List Price: $16.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): After becoming obsessed with finding her Uncle's killer, and no definite answers from the police, Rahkel Williams enlists the services of private investigator, Darrin Miller. With his help, she sets out to find answers and it's not long before they both begin to get personal.

As time goes on, Rahkel finds herself caught in a web of lies and deceit, where nothing and no one are as they seem. She begins to wonder if she can trust anyone. The deeper Rahkel searches for answers, the stranger things become, while people of interest are being killed and she’s afraid she’ll be next. There is a race against time for Rahkel to find the truth.

Review: Rahkel Williams discovers the circumstances surrounding the mysterious death of her beloved uncle in Searchable Whereabouts, a debut thriller by Tinisha Nicole Johnson.

Rahkel is a nurse who does a little bookkeeping for her uncle on the side. She's had a tough run lately, recovering from divorce and substance abuse. But she's convinced she's on the right track in life. One day she comes across some unusual entries in her uncle's accounts and asks him about them. He waves them off as being routine business matters, but several days later he's found dead, badly burned in a car accident. Convinced that her uncle was murdered, Rahkel embarks on a personal investigation to uncover the truth.

The formulaic plot of Searchable Whereabouts is brightened by the character of Rahkel Williams. She's not a typical heroine and has plenty of weaknesses to balance her strengths. Although the book's resolution is foreshadowed early and is not unexpected when it happens, there is a fair amount of misdirection along the way. The suspense in the story increases when Rahkel becomes a target herself, though it's never quite clear what she knows that makes her a threat. One thing that doesn't work to the story's advantage is that it takes place over the course of 7 months or so (not including the 8 months that pass prior to the final chapter which reads more like an epilogue); a much tighter time frame would have helped maintain a higher tension level.

There are a number of stylistic and syntactic problems with Searchable Whereabouts. There is no uniform voice to the story. The narrative abruptly shifts from formal to informal and back again for no obvious literary reason. The dialog is mostly conversational but often doesn't sound natural, especially in the context of the story. And somewhat inexplicably, towards the end of the book there are a couple of chapters from a different character's point of view; it's unnecessary and confusing. Finally, the book could have benefited greatly from a critical eye towards editing. Sentence structure is frequently awkward and commas are used far too often, disrupting the flow of the text and making the story seem choppy and uneven.

Searchable Whereabouts is a moderately successful first novel, but the reader needs to overlook some of its shortcomings to appreciate the story being told.

Special thanks to Tinisha Nicole Johnson for providing a copy of Searchable Whereabouts for this review.

Learn more about the author and the book in A Conversation with Tinisha Nicole Johnson.

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 Review: St. Barts Breakdown by Don Bruns

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of St. Barts Breakdown by Don Bruns. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

St. Barts Breakdown by Don Bruns
A Mick Sever Mystery

Oceanview Publishing (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-933515-12-0 (1933515120)
ISBN-13: 978-1-933515-12-0 (1933515120)
Publication Date: March 2008
List Price: $24.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): Rock and roll journalist Mick Sever is back with a new assignment: interview music legend 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. Barts villa.

Before Mick can hop a plane to the island, he's nearly run down by a speeding car. Coincidence? Maybe, but hitmaker Danny Murtz and near misses go hand in hand.

After receiving anonymous threats, Murtz is convinced: someone wants to bring him down. Even his longtime secretary Nancy, and attorney/manager/cleaner-upper Harvey Schwartz are suspect. And that meddlesome Mick Sever is digging too deep.

If Danny Murtz has his way, Mick will only need a one-way ticket to paradise. Because if Mick isn't careful, his next column will be an obituary - his obituary.

Sun, sand and a psychopath: it's a deadly mix.

Review: Music journalist Mick Sever's latest assignment is to interview legendary producer Danny Murtz at his Caribbean hideaway on Saint Barthélemy in St. Barts Breakdown, the fourth mystery in this series by Don Bruns.

Danny Murtz hasn't been interviewed in 15 years, but has agreed to participate in an A&E special on his life and music to be filmed on St. Barts. The Chicago Tribune in Murtz' home town is also doing a profile and the producer has agreed to be interviewed by Sever at the same time. This isn't to say that Murtz hasn't been newsworthy; firearm charges, abuse, resisting arrest, DWI, drunk and disorderly, and assorted other pleasantries have kept Murtz on the cover of tabloids for years. When Sever arrives on the tiny island, he quickly finds himself immersed in a tangled network of the producer's associates, friends, and enemies, at least one of whom seems to want Sever dead. And he hasn't even been introduced to Murtz yet.

St. Barts Breakdown is far more intrigue than mystery and is based in part on the premise that there have never been any murders on Saint Barthélemy. The multiple points of view keep the reader fully informed as to what's happening at all times and for the most part why. There's the mysterious, unnamed woman who seems to be stalking Murtz, but even her activities don't really generate much suspense.

Bruns takes a light, almost relaxed, approach to his narrative which suits the characters and the setting in particular very well. There are glimpses of humor. At one point Sever is in a nightclub and doesn't know if the sofa bed is for sitting, reclining, or some other position and is then referred to as an older man by the woman he's with - it's really quite comical. And despite the rather large number of dead bodies that remain on the island when Sever leaves, none are classified as a murder, keeping St. Barts' record intact. Finally, there's a nice ironic twist in the concluding paragraph that brings closure to a certain plot point.

St. Barts Breakdown is an entertaining, if somewhat predictable, addition to this series and is possibly the best entry to date.

Special thanks to Maryglenn McCombs Book Publicity for providing an ARC of St. Barts Breakdown 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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Mysteries on TV: Midsomer Murders and The Vice

Mysteries on TV, your source for the most complete selection of detective, amateur sleuth, private investigator, and suspense television mystery series now available or coming soon to DVD, has two series that have season DVDs being released this week plus one series compilation.

The cozy villages of Midsomer County reveal their most sinister secrets in Midsomer Murders, the long-running series based on characters created by Caroline Graham. The series stars John Nettles as the unflappable Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby, with John Hopkins as his brash young assistant, Sergeant Dan Scott, and remains in production today.

Midsomer Murders Set 10 contains the 4 episodes, each on a separate disc, originally shown on ITV during 2005: Second Sight, Hidden Depths, Sauce for the Goose, and Midsomer Rhapsody.

Also being released this week are the first 18 episodes of Midsomer Murders in a single DVD set. Collectively titled Midsomer Murders: The Early Cases Collection, the episodes are presented in chronological order as they originally aired and include the five mysteries adapted directly from novels by Caroline Graham: The Killings at Badger's Drift, Death of a Hollow Man, Death in Disguise, Written in Blood, and Faithful Unto Death.

The 19 discs in this set have the 18 original episodes, one per disc, plus a bonus disc that includes a documentary about the show's first decade, featuring John Nettles, Caroline Graham, writer Anthony Horowitz, and others.

Can you see the truth? Can you see the lie? Ken Stott (who would later go on to star in the Rebus crime drama series) starred as Detective Pat Chappel, leader of a dedicated London Metropolitan Police Force vice squad in The Vice which aired on ITV for five seasons from 1999 through 2003.

The Vice Season 1 DVD set of 3 discs contains the three 2-part episodes of the first season that aired in early 1999: Daughters, Sons, and Dabbling.

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

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Mystery Book Review: The Guilty by Jason Pinter

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

The Guilty by Jason Pinter
A Henry Parker Mystery

Mira Books (Mass Market Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-7783-2463-X (077832463X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7783-2463-8 (9780778324638)
Publication Date: March 2008
List Price: $7.99

Synopsis (from the publisher): Justice is as fast as a bullet…

As I lie in bed with Amanda, ignoring another late-night call from my ex, a shot rings out in the New York night and a beautiful starlet dies outside the city's most popular nightclub. This is the kind of story I was born to chase—but I never dreamed this story began over a hundred years ago. …

Suddenly another life is taken, the bullet fired from one of the deadliest guns ever made. Both victims are highly controversial, their murders more like public executions. My search leads me into the twisted world of The Boy—a world defined by a demented code of honor and shocking, long-buried secrets of the world's most infamous outlaw.

When this assassin realizes I'm getting too close to the truth, uncovering the past could jeopardize everything I care about. Because in his world there's a fine line between good and evil, and the difference between innocence and guilt depends on who's holding the gun. …

Review: Investigative journalist Henry Parker probes the murders of four prominent people, all within days of each other, in The Guilty, the second thriller in this series by Jason Pinter.

"Some reporters are always a step behind. Some reporters always keep pace. Some reporters are always a step ahead. What kind of a reporter are you?" So asks a plaque placed outside the news division of The Gazette, a hard-hitting newspaper in New York City. Henry Parker has vowed to be a step ahead, no matter what. The murders have the city on edge and Henry tries to not only find the reasons behind their deaths but possibly even the person responsible. The only clue: the victims were killed with an antique Winchester rifle. His investigation takes him from the ghettos of the city to the open plains of New Mexico. And he makes a truly amazing connection between a modern killer and an outlaw from the wild west.

The book's title, The Guilty, is intentionally ambiguous. Who are the guilty? Certainly Henry himself, who is presented as a flawed individual, especially in his personal life, and in particular in his relationships with women. In the killer's mind, however, the victims are "guilty of the degeneration of society by their ethical and moral failures." But why kill them with a famous (or possibly infamous) weapon from the late 1800s? This connection between crimes of the past and the present murders makes for a compelling thriller and the best passages in the story follow Henry's research, watching him link together the pieces of this puzzle. There is a bit of hero worship, or maybe romanticizing, for the outlaws of the past (Billy the Kid, Jesse James, and others) that seems at odds with Henry's investigation of the killings, but that's a minor criticism.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Guilty and to Precedent Media for providing a copy 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 Godoku Puzzle for March 24, 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 G L N O R U. This St. Louis private investigator is featured in a series by John Lutz (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!

Incredible deals on books, movies, games at half.com

Audio and video, cameras and computers at J&R

Save on used books and movies at Alibris.com

Unravel mysterious clues at ShopPBS.org

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Compendium of Mystery News 080323

A compendium of recently published mystery news articles:

• In a press release, Her Interactive has officially announced the title of the 18th installment in the Nancy Drew PC game series, Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice. The game is expected to be available this July for purchase. A short (40 second) trailer for the game is also available on the Her Interactive website. [MBN note: All of the current Nancy Drew PC games are available on the Games of Mystery website, including the new Nancy Drew DS game released earlier this year. Also available are Nancy Drew Strategy Guides for many of the games.]

• Reuters is reporting that one of Britain's best-known children's book series, the Famous Five by Enid Blyton, is being turned into a 21st century cartoon for Disney. "The Famous Five themes of adventure, mystery and friendship are as relevant and appealing to kids today as they were 70 years ago," said the Disney Channel's Steve Aranguren in a statement. [MBN note: The original Famous Five series books are available on the First Clues: Mysteries for Kids website.]

• Time Magazine interviews Rita Mae Brown who, they say, is nothing if not versatile: feminist activist, mystery writer, lesbian pioneer, fox hunter, screenwriter, novelist, animal rescuer.

• The New York Times has brief overviews and reviews of half a dozen or so recently published mysteries and thrillers.

The best of BBC programming now available on DVD

Unlimited audio books from On the Go Books

Book your murder mystery weekend on Travelocity

Books, video, audio, and games at B&N.com

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Pre-Order Discounted Mysteries: Featured Titles for 03/25/2008

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:

Death Walked In by Carolyn G. Hart. The 18th mystery in the Death on Demand series featuring mystery bookstore owner Annie Laurance Darling. Scheduled publication date: 03/25/2008.

Lost Souls by Lisa Jackson. Scheduled publication date: 03/25/2008.

Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman. The 22nd mystery for psychologist Alex Delaware. Scheduled publication date: 03/25/2008.

Buckingham Palace Gardens by Anne Perry. The 25th case for Victorian London police inspector Thomas Pitt. Scheduled publication date: 03/25/2008.

Miss Julia Paints the Town by Ann B. Ross. The 9th mystery featuring North Carolina amateur sleuth Miss Julia. Scheduled publication date: 03/27/2008.

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 Book Review: The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black

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

The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black
A Quirke Mystery

Henry Holt (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-8050-8153-4 (0805081534)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-8153-4 (9780805081534)
Publication Date: March 2008
List Price: $25.00

Synopsis (from the publisher): Two years have passed since the events of Christine Falls, and much has changed for Quirke, the irascible, formerly hard-drinking Dublin pathologist. His beloved Sarah is dead, his surrogate father lies in a convent hospital paralyzed by a devastating stroke, and Phoebe, Quirke’s long-denied daughter, has grown increasingly withdrawn and isolated.
 
With much to regret from his last inquisitive foray, Quirke ought to know better than to let his curiosity get the best of him. Yet when an almost forgotten acquaintance comes to him about his beautiful young wife’s apparent suicide, Quirke’s “old itch to cut into the quick of things, to delve into the dark of what was hidden” is roused again. As he begins to probe further into the shadowy circumstances of Deirdre Hunt’s death, he discovers many things that might better have remained hidden, as well as grave danger to those he loves.

Review: Benjamin Black's second novel to feature Quirke, The Silver Swan, has the Dublin pathologist facing personal battles as well as professional ones when he fails to quell his curiosity and performs an autopsy on a woman who purportedly accidentally drowned in the sea.

The autopsy probably wouldn't have even happened. Autopsies aren't required for accident victims, yet when the husband of the dead woman, an old school chum, asks Quirke specifically not to perform an autopsy, he can't help but wonder why. There's no water in her lungs and he finds a fresh puncture wound with traces of morphine in her blood. Still, for reasons he's not even sure of himself, he lies to the coroner's court and testifies that she accidentally drowned. In a case of the police chief knowing Quirke lied and Quirke knowing the chief knows this, they both begin quiet, but separate, investigations into the true circumstances of the woman's death.

The sequence of events in The Silver Swan is so improbable that it almost seems is if the message here is, truth is stranger than fiction. But this is fiction. And as a mystery or suspense novel, it completely misses the mark. To be sure, the book is beautifully written with masterfully crafted narrative effortlessly flowing down the page. It's a genuine pleasure to read such elegant prose. But the plot seems incomplete or maybe it's just weakly executed.

A minor difficulty in navigating this book is the intertwined inclusion of chapters that relate the backstory of the dead woman, Deidre Hunt who is also known as Laura Swan. The two timelines eventually come together in the end at a point that is supposed to be climatic but falls far short. Instead of being revealing and surprising, it's all rather expected, even routine. It's a bit disappointing.

Quirke's character, already well developed from his introduction in Christine Falls, continues to evolve here. This complex man is the core of these books and one of the reasons this series excels. Read The Silver Swan because it is a superbly written atmospheric novel with multi-dimensional characters; just don't expect any mystery here.

Special thanks to Henry Holt for providing an ARC of The Silver Swan 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 Bestsellers for March 21, 2008

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending March 21, 2008 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

James Patterson's 7th Heaven remains in the top position this week, but a new title on the list debuts in the 4th spot.

Killer Heat is the 10th legal thriller to feature Manhattan District Attorney Alex Cooper by Linda Fairstein. Just as Alex is claiming an especially gratifying victory in a rape case, she gets the call: the body of a young woman has been found in an abandoned building. The brutality of the murder is disturbing enough, but when a second body, beaten and disposed of in exactly same manner, is found off the Belt Parkway, the city’s top brass want the killer found fast, before the tabloids can start churning out ghoulish serial killer headlines. Between dodging the bullets of the gang members who are infuriated by Alex’s most recent courtroom victory and keeping a rendezvous with a charming restaurateur, a serial killer on the loose is the last thing she needs on her plate right now. Then a third victim is found, and it becomes clear to Alex and her team that time is not on their side. Publishers Weekly calls Killer Heat "nail-biting" and Library Journal adds, "Fairstein delivers a scorcher of a crime novel."

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. And don't forget to check our Pre-Order Mysteries page where you can save an additional 5% when you purchase your mystery books prior to their publication date.

The top four mystery bestsellers this week are shown 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: A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer
Non-series

St. Martin's Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-37929-3 (0312379293)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-37929-2 (9780312379292)
Publication Date: March 2008
List Price: $27.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): Danny Cartwright and Spencer Craig never should have met. One evening, Danny, an East End cockney who works as a garage mechanic, takes his fianceé up to the West End to celebrate their engagement. He crosses the path of Spencer Craig, a West End barrister posed to be the youngest Queen’s Counsel of his generation.

A few hours later Danny is arrested for murder and later is sentenced to twenty-two years in prison, thanks to irrefutable testimony from Spencer, the prosecution's main witness.

Danny spends the next few years in a high-security prison while Spencer Craig’s career as a lawyer goes straight up. All the while Danny plans to escape and wreak his revenge.

Review: A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer is a modern update of the classic tale of fate and fortune, redemption and revenge.

Danny Cartwright is an uneducated garage mechanic who is falsely accused of murder but found guilty and sentenced to twenty-two years in the highest security prison in the land. He has no thought of fortune or redemption, just revenge – revenge against the four prominent men who were involved in the killing of his best friend, and who were the prosecution’s prime witnesses at his trial. He figures he has twenty-two years to plan his perfect revenge. By a twist of fate, however, fortune becomes a part of Danny’s life when he is released as someone he befriended in prison, the heir to a vast estate. He now has the means to act on his revenge. But what of redemption?

From a general plot outline perspective, there is little difference between A Prisoner of Birth and The Count of Monte Cristo from which the novel is clearly derived. The author here, however, instills into his characters personalities that make them individuals and not merely copies of the original characters created by Dumas. There are a few plot inventions that seem a bit contrived in order to match the basic story in classic tale, but fortunately these are compensated with an ample number of new twists and turns that are introduced here.

Intelligently written, A Prisoner of Birth is in many ways an original story embedded within a comfortable and familiar plot, the result being a tremendously satisfying novel.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of A Prisoner of Birth and to Authors on the Web for providing an a copy 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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Games of Mystery: Host Your Own Murder Mystery Party

Games of Mystery, your online source for mystery-themed games, parties, and vacations, has updated its website to include a Host Your Own Murder Mystery Evening page of games.

Put murder on the menu and host a dinner party with a difference! Host Your Own Murder Mystery Evening games come complete with invitations, menu suggestions, tips on home decoration, character guides and an audio CD. Terrific fun, these games provide great opportunities for you and your guests to dress-up, get into character, and really 'ham-it-up' as you try to figure out whodunit!

Developed by Cheatwell Games, there are five titles available in this series: The Curse of the Mummy, Dead on Time, Death in the Ring, The Porthole Affair, The Shotgun Affair. All are designed for groups of 6 to 8 players.

Also available on the Games of Mystery website is a list of mystery parties available from Host-Party.com. Games are sorted by age group, Mystery Parties for Adults, Mystery Parties for Teens, and Mystery Parties for Kids, and are frequently updated with new mystery party ideas.

Visit Games of Mystery for all types of mysterious fun!

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Compendium of Mystery News 080319

A compendium of recently published mystery news articles:

• USA Today has 5 questions for mystery author Laura Lippman.

• The Writing Show is hosting its third annual First Chapter of a Novel Contest with a top prize of $1000. There is an entry fee of $25 (if submitted prior to May 20, 2008). See the press release for more details including the contest website.

• The Lambda Literary Foundation has announced its finalists for the 20th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. Winners will be announced on May 29, 2008. Categories include Women's Mystery and Men's Mystery.

• The Daily Yomiuri is reporting that mystery writer Jiro Akagawa has published his 500th novel titled The Ball at Castle Dracula. The author disagrees, stating that Calico Cat Holmes' Tea Party is the 500th. Regardless, that's a lot of mysteries! He first started writing in 1977 and turns out 10-20 books a year.

• Publishers Weekly talks to Ben LeRoy, publisher of Bleak House, who has established a niche in the marketplace by focusing on noir fiction and hard-boiled mysteries.

Sail to a mystery destination with CruiseDirect.com

New, used, and rare books at Abebooks.com

Rent unlimited MP3 mystery books at booksfree.com

Mystery movies and no late fees with Netflix

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