New Hardcover Mysteries for June 2008

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books has updated its list of new hardcover mysteries with books scheduled for publication in June 2008.

For our series fans, we've listed those titles with their series character(s) separately below:

• Losing Ground by Catherine Aird. Inspector Sloan (21st).

• A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander. Emily Ashton (3rd).

• Dead in Red by L. L. Bartlett. Jeff Resnick (2nd).

• The Deceived by Brett Battles. Jonathan Quinn (2nd).

• Shadow Command by Dale Brown. Patrick McLanahan (14th).

• Singularity by Kathryn Casey. Sarah Armstrong (1st).

• Blackman's Coffin by Mark de Castrique. Sam Blackman (1st). Scheduled to be reviewed by Mysterious Reviews.

• Nothing to Lose by Lee Child. Jack Reacher (12th).

• Obsessions by Marshall Cook. Monona Quinn (4th).

• A Poisoned Mind by Natasha Cooper. Trish Maguire (9th).

• TailSpin by Catherine Coulter. FBI Suspense (12th).

• Vineyard Chill by Philip R. Craig. J. W. Jackson, Martha's Vineyard (19th).

• Every Secret Crime by Doug M. Cummings. Reno McCarthy (2nd).

• Still Waters by Judith Cutler. Frances Harman (3rd).

• The Broken Window by Jeffery Deaver. Lincoln Rhyme (8th).

• The Drifter's Wheel by Phillip DePoy. Fever Devilin (5th).

• Hungry Ghosts by Susan Dunlap. Darcy Lott (2nd).

• Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich. Stephanie Plum (14th, 16th).

• Buried Too Deep by Jane Finnis. Aurelia Marcella (3rd). Scheduled to be reviewed by Mysterious Reviews.

• Black Seconds by Karin Fossum. Inspector Sejer (5th).

• Next Door to Murder by Anthea Fraser. Rona Parish (6th).

• The Dirty Secrets Club by Meg Gardiner. Jo Beckett (1st).

• A Patent Lie by Paul Goldstein. Michael Seeley (2nd).

• Heavenly Pleasures by Kerry Greenwood. Corinna Chapman (2nd). Scheduled to be reviewed by Mysterious Reviews.

• Wishbones by Carolyn Haines. Sarah Booth Delaney, Southern Belle (8th).

• Game Over by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. Bill Slider (11th).

• Dead Hot Shot by Victoria Houston. Loon Lake (9th).

• The Chorister at the Abbey by Lis Howell. Norbridge Chronicles (2nd).

• Rules, Regs and Rotten Eggs by H. R. F. Keating. Harriet Martens (7th).

• The Manor of Death by Bernard Knight. Crowner John (12th).

• House Rules by Mike Lawson. Joe DeMarco (3rd).

• Killing Bridezilla by Laura Levine. Jaine Austen (7th).

• Swing Low, Sweet Chariot by Jackie Lynn. Rose Franklin, Shady Grove (3rd).

• Shadow of Power by Steve Martini. Paul Madriana (9th). Scheduled to be reviewed by Mysterious Reviews.

• Shimura Trouble by Sujata Massey. Rei Shimura (10th).

• Dead Silver by Neil McMahon. Hugh Davoren (2nd).

• A Vengeful Longing by R. N. Morris. Porfiry Petrovich (2nd).

• Vita Nuova by Magdalen Nabb. Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia (14th). Scheduled to be reviewed by Mysterious Reviews.

• The Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser. Van Veeteren (1st).

• Exile Trust by Vincent H. O'Neil. Frank Cole (3rd).

• The Dark of Day by Barbara Parker. C. J. Dunn (1st).

• Old School Bones by Randall Peffer. Michael DeCastro (2nd).

• Not in the Flesh by Ruth Rendell. Inspector Wexford (22nd).

• King of the Holly Hop by Les Roberts. Milan Jacovich (14th). Scheduled to be reviewed by Mysterious Reviews.

• Fixation by Mark Schorr. Brian Hanson (2nd).

• The Green Man by Kate Sedley. Roger the Chapman (17th).

• Dyer Consequences by Maggie Sefton. Kelly Flynn, Knitting (5th).

• Judgment Day by Sheldon Siegel. Mike Daley (6th).

• Cool Cache by Patricia Smiley. Tucker Sinclair (4th).

• Breaking Point by Frank Smith. Neil Paget (6th).

• A Dying Fall by Sally Spencer. Charlie Woodend (19th).

• I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming. Clare Fergusson (6th).

• Murder on Bank Street by Victoria Thompson. Sarah Brandt and Frank Malloy, Gaslight (10th).

• An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson. Josephine Tey (1st).

• In the Heat by Ian Vasquez. Miles Young (1st).

• The Blood Detective by Dan Waddell. Nigel Barnes (1st).

• A Darker Side by Shirley Wells. Jill Kennedy and DCI Max Trentham (2nd). Scheduled to be reviewed by Mysterious Reviews.

• Second Sitting by Stella Whitelaw. Casey Jones (1st).

• Illegally Dead by David Wishart. Marcus Corvinus (12th).

For more information on any of these titles, please visit the New Mysteries page on our website. If you're interested in new paperbacks, visit The Mystery Bookshelf 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 mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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Mystery Bestsellers for May 30, 2008

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending May 23, 2008 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

Elizabeth George's 14th mystery in the Thomas Lynley series, Careless in Red, assumes the top position this week with two new titles entering the bestseller list.

Published earlier this month but just now moving up the list to number 8 this week is Blood Trail, the 8th mystery in the Joe Pickett series by C. J. Box. It’s elk season in the Rockies, but this year a different kind of hunter is stalking a different kind of prey. When the call comes in on the radio, Joe Pickett can hardly believe his ears: game wardens have found a hunter dead at a camp in the mountains—strung up, gutted, and flayed, as if he were the elk he’d been pursuing. A spent cartridge and a poker chip lie next to his body. Ripples of horror spread through the community, and with a possibly psychotic killer on the loose Governor Rulon is forced to end the hunting season early for the first time in state history. Are the murders the work of a deranged antihunting activist or of a lone psychopath with a personal vendetta? As always, Joe Pickett is the governor’s go-to man, and he’s put on the case to track the murderous hunter, as more bodies and poker chips turn up. Publishers Weekly states that the killer's identity "will keep readers guessing up to the surprising climax."

Debuting at number 14 is Shadow of Power, the 9th legal thriller featuring defense attorney Paul Madriani by Steve Martini.  The Supreme Court is one of our most sacred—and secretive—public institutions. But sometimes secrets can lead to cover-ups with very deadly consequences. Terry Scarborough is a legal scholar and provocateur who craves headline-making celebrity, but with his latest book he may have gone too far. In it he resurrects forgotten language in the U.S. Constitution—and hints at a missing letter of Thomas Jefferson's—that threatens to divide the nation. Then, during a publicity tour, Scarborough is brutally murdered in a San Diego hotel room, and a young man with dark connections is charged. What looks like an open-and-shut case to most people doesn't to defense attorney Paul Madriani. He believes that there is much more to the case and that the defendant is a pawn caught in the middle, being scapegoated by circumstance. As the trial spirals toward its conclusion, Madriani and his partner, Harry Hinds, race to find the missing Jefferson letter—and the secrets it holds about slavery and scandal at the time of our nation's founding and the very reason Scarborough was killed. Madriani's chase takes him from the tension-filled courtroom in California to the trail of a high court justice now suddenly in hiding and lays bare the soaring political stakes for a seat on the highest court, in a country divided, and under the shadow of power. Publishers Weekly calls Shadow of Power "entertaining" and adds that the compelling courtroom scenes "display a sophisticated knowledge of legal trench warfare".

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:

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Mystery Book Review: Murder Talks Turkey by Deb Baker

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Murder Talks Turkey by Deb Baker. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Murder Talks Turkey by Deb Baker
A Yooper Mystery with Gertie Johnson

Midnight Ink (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-7387-1225-6 (0738712256)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7387-1225-3 (9780738712253)
Publication Date: May 2008
List Price: $13.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): It's spring in Michigan's Upper Peninsula — an exciting season of rising temperatures, budding romances, and the turkey-hunting opener. But for sheer adrenaline value, neither love nor turkeys can compete with the Credit Union being held up at gunpoint. It's not the best planning to commit a robbery in a town where everyone is armed for combat, and the gunman is shot dead in a room full of witnesses — but the stolen money has disappeared right in front of their eyes.

Faster than you can say "Tom Turkey," Gertie, Cora Mae, and Kitty are on the case, in this hoot of a whodunit.

Review: The madcap antics of Gertie Johnson and her fellow Yoopers continue unabated in Murder Talks Turkey, the third comedic mystery in this series by Deb Baker.

Recently widowed 60-year-old Gertie and her two ageless friends have opened Trouble Busters Investigations in the small town of Stoney in Yooperland (Michigan's Upper Peninsula). Gertie's son was once the sheriff of Stoney but is on medical leave under her care. When the local credit union is robbed in her presence, with the thief killed right before her eyes, she believes that Trouble Busters Investigations can do a better job of solving case than leaving it in the hands of the acting sheriff.

Gertie's puzzled by a number of facts in the case. The bag of loot the thief got was filled with play money. The thief was wearing orange shoes as was his killer. And who later killed the man found lying next to Gertie's car? Worse for Gertie, who used her gun to do it? This latter incident sets off a series of bungling efforts by the police, tampering of evidence by Gertie, breaking out of jail and destroying government property. Instead of solving the case, Trouble Busters Investigations finds itself part of the case, and on the run to boot.

Murder Talks Turkey is a delight to read. In addition to the engaging mystery, it's a wonderful story of the love of family and friends. And for Gertie, maybe just maybe a new significant other. One of the more amusing features of the book is the new word a day contest that Gertie and her friend Kitty are participating in. They must not only use the word, but use it correctly, something Kitty frequently has a problem with. It's a small touch, but it adds a personal element to the story that makes it all the more special and entertaining.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Murder Talks Turkey and to Midnight Ink 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 Book Review: Death in the Air by Shane Peacock

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Death in the Air by Shane Peacock. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Death in the Air by Shane Peacock
A Boy Sherlock Holmes Mystery

Tundra Books (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-88776-851-2 (0887768512)
ISBN-13: 978-0-88776-851-4 (9780887768514)
Publication Date: April 2008
List Price: $19.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): After the harrowing experience of losing his mother while solving a brutal murder in London’s East End, young Sherlock Holmes commits himself to fighting crime … and is soon involved in another case.

While visiting his father at the magnificent Crystal Palace, Sherlock stops to watch a remarkable and dangerous trapeze performance high above, framed by the stunning glass ceiling of the legendary building. Suddenly, the troupe’s star is dropping, screaming and flailing, toward the floor. He lands with a sickening thud just a few feet away, and rolls up almost onto the boy’s boots. Unconscious and bleeding profusely, his body is grotesquely twisted. In the mayhem that follows, Sherlock notices something that no one else sees — something is amiss with the trapeze bar! He knows that foul play is afoot. What he doesn’t know is that his discovery will put him on a frightening, twisted trail that leads to an entire gang of notorious criminals..

Review: As Canadian author Shane Peacock’s delightful novel Death in the Air illustrates, it’s never too soon to be introduced to the British detective many believe to be the greatest sleuth of all time. Aimed at young adults, this second book in Peacock’s The Boy Sherlock Holmes Series is as entertaining and stimulating for adults and afficianados as it is for teenagers and first-time readers seeking to learn what Holmes might have been like as a street-wise thirteen-year-old half-Jewish lad living, growing up and sleuthing in London in 1867.

Although a mere teenager Holmes has already solved his first case in Peacock’s Eye of the Crow, but at tremendous personal cost in the death of his mother as retribution for his search for justice in the killing of a young woman. Still battered by his loss he is attempting to make amends with his estranged father, a worker at London’s famed Crystal Palace, when he is ensnared in his second case. It happens when Monsieur Mercure, the famed aerialist nicknamed Le Coq, plunges from his broken trapeze to fall at the astonished lad’s feet, muttering an ambiguous “Silence ... me ...,” before being rushed unconscious to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. Using his rapidly developing trademark powers of observation and deductive reasoning Holmes begins assessing the clues and surveying the possible suspects for what he quickly concludes is an attempted murder. As he ponders the problem he crosses paths with the other members of Mercure’s troupe, The Swallow, The Robin, and The Eagle. He refers to famous aerialists Leotard, Blondin and the Flying Farinis and dressed as a reporter he meets with the Great Farini and his protégé El Nino at the Royal Alhambra Palace. It is another example of how Holmes frequently uses disguises in his quest for justice. And as a sample of his physical derring-do he accidentally takes a turn for the worst on the flying trapeze when he flies through the air “with the least of ease.”

All around him as he searches for the perpetrators of the Mercure incident and a robbery that has come to light, Victorian London comes alive. There are cleverly inserted references to the authors of the day, Charles Dickens and Jules Verne for two, to Thomas Crapper’s newly invented flush toilet, to London’s newspapers, The Tely, Gazette, and Times, to the Peelers or Bobbies as the police are known, to the steam locomotive trains huffing into and out of Charring Cross Station. Other landmarks are included too such as Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Scotland Yard, the Elephant and Castle, Dulwich Village and “its renowned college,” the Thames Tunnel, “the world’s first underwater tunnel,” and the dilapidated warehouses of Rotherhithe. It is there the infamous Brixton Gang have secreted themselves before Holmes brings them to justice for the robbery related to Le Coq’s mishap and reveals the relevance of the injured aerialist’s muttered message. The gang’s capture is as spectacular, exciting and dangerous an adventure as any the senior Holmes encounters later on.

Although Dr. Watson hasn’t yet entered Holmes life in Peacock’s books, others from the Sherlockian canon have, such as Dr. Bell, an alchemist with whom he now lives and Inspector Lestrade with whom he frequently crosses swords. Even Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the Sherlock Holmes adult crime series, is referred to while an imaginary daughter, Irene Doyle, plays a major role as the love interest in a romantic triangle with Holmes and Malefactor, the London Irregulars’ street boss, crime Lord and Sherlock’s nemesis. And as the youthful Holmes hones his detective skills that play so prominently in the adult novels, Peacock also lays the groundwork for the master detective’s mature personality traits and his emotional and psychological behaviours that have fuelled so many books and even scholarly treatises. As well Peacock resurrects the symbolism of the crows that was so well done in young Sherlock’s first case. And he foreshadows the troubles of future sequels when he has the conflicted Sherlock conclude about friends and foes alike that “He will outsmart them all. He will continue his plan to turn himself into a crime-fighting machine unlike any England has ever seen.” “Evidently, Mr. Peacock. Evidently.”

Special thanks to M. Wayne Cunningham (mw_cunningham@telus.net) for contributing his review of Death in the Air.

Review Copyright © 2008 — M. Wayne Cunningham — All Rights Reserved — Reprinted with Permission

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 May 26, 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: B D E G J O S U Y. This short story by Jean B. Cooper won the Edgar Award in 1996 (with “The”, 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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