Love is Murder 2009 Conference Information Now Available

Information for the 11th annual Love is Murder conference for writers, publishers, and readers has been posted to the Love is Murder website. The conference will be held February 6th through 8th, 2009, at the Westin Chicago North Shore hotel in Chicago. Registration options and a schedule of events are available on their website. Special guests at the 2009 conference include bestselling mystery authors Jeffery Deaver, Alex Kava, and Steve Berry.

Awards for the best mystery, thriller, or suspense novel of the year are given out in several categories. Previous winners of these Lovey Awards are listed on our reference website, Mystery Book Awards.

Love is Murder is a not-for-profit organization that provides an educational forum to writers and readers to further their knowledge of writing, publishing, and the business of book production. In addition to the annual convention, Love is Murder endeavors to sponsor other educational and/or writer-focused programs throughout the year.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Savings: 35% Off Storewide at A&E

Mystery Savings periodically provides our readers with current promotions that offer discounts or other incentives for purchasing mystery-themed products and services products through our partner websites. Below is a special offer recently received by us that we're pleased to pass on at this time.

From now through December 20, 2008, A&E is offering an additional 35% off storewide. Plus you'll get $1 shipping. Use coupon code SAVE35 at checkout to realize your savings. A&E has DVD sets of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Poirot, Cold Case Files, CSI Miami, The Avengers, and more, many on sale for the holidays. Click on the banner link below to start shopping and enjoy 35% off storewide and $1 shipping from A&E.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Savings: $5 Off Any Game at PlayFirst

Mystery Savings periodically provides our readers with current promotions that offer discounts or other incentives for purchasing mystery-themed products and services through our partner websites. Below is a special offer recently received by us that we're pleased to pass on at this time.

If you're looking for a casual mystery game to purchase, PlayFirst games is offering $5 off any full-priced single game of your choice. Simply use coupon code PFHOLIDAYSPECIAL at checkout. This offer is available now through January 15, 2009. For a selection of mystery games available from PlayFirst, visit our Games of Mystery: PlayFirst download page.

And look for the new Nightshift Legacy: The Jaguar's Eye, a PlayFirst exclusive casual game released today, and profiled in our previous post.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Games of Mystery: Nightshift Legacy The Jaguar's Eye, New at PlayFirst Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, and mystery getaway vacations, is pleased to announce a special price for a mystery game available from PlayFirst Games. You can find out more about these games from our Mystery Games: PlayFirst Download Games page or by clicking on the links provided below.

Take a historical adventure full of romance and intrigue with The Nightshift Code heroes, Mike and Isabel, in the exciting sequel, Nightshift Legacy: The Jaguar's Eye. You'll travel from the jungles of Guatemala to the streets of Moscow, from present day back to the history of the Spanish Civil War, brush elbows with historical luminaries such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera while hunting for stolen artifacts across multiple continents. Can you find mysterious Jaguar's Eye before it's too late?

Nightshift Legacy: The Jaguar's Eye, a PlayFirst exclusive casual game, is also available to purchase for $9.95 with the PlayPass program. A trial version is available to download for a 60 minutes of play (Windows PC, 38.3 MB).

Other popular games on our download PlayFirst Mystery Games page include both Mystery PI games, Mystery P.I.: The Vegas Heist and Mystery P.I.: The Lottery Ticket, James Patterson's Women's Murder Club: Death in Scarlet, and Private Eye.

And don't forget to visit Games of Mystery for all kinds of mysterious fun!

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Book Review: The Marshal Makes His Report by Magdalen Nabb

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of The Marshal Makes His Report by Magdalen Nabb. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

The Marshal Makes His Report by Magdalen Nabb
A Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia Mystery

Soho Press (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-56947-532-6 (1569475326)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-532-4 (9781569475326)
Publication Date: September 2008
List Price: $14.00

Review: The Marshal has been assigned to investigate the death of a member of Florence's elite high society in The Marshal Makes His Report, the eighth mystery in this series by Magdalen Nabb. Originally published in 1992, Soho Press is reissuing trade paperback editions of many of the early books in this exceptional series.

Buongianni Corsi, the husband of the Marchesa Ulderighi, is discovered shot to death in the gun room located in the basement of their estate. There seem to be few reasons why Corsi would take his own life and there are ample explanations of how an accident could occur. The Marshal, while investigating the scene of Corsi's death, concludes it could have been suicide or an accident or a homicide. The motives for murder suggest to the Marshal that this idea should be investigated thoroughly. There is no love lost between the dead man and his wife and Corsi was known to have been unfaithful in his marriage. His son believed he was unloved and was ignored by his father. The estate is in a state of general disrepair and some of the larger rooms on the upper levels have been rented out. Clearly in need of money, the Marchesa is particularly anxious to settle her husband's death to collect his life insurance. The Marshal's interrogations of the renters reveal conflicting stories. In this particularly puzzling case, the Marshal does not believe the case can be quickly closed and is permitted the assistance of another officer, Lieutenant Lorenzini. Together they must sift through the myriad tales told to them, sorting out what is truth and what is fiction, before the Marshal can make his report on the circumstances surrounding the death of Corsi.

In The Marshal Makes His Report, Nabb once again displays an effortless elegance in both plotting her mystery and the manner in which it is told. Despite the contradictory information presented to him and the doubt he has in the expedient solution, the Marshal shows more confidence here than in some previous books in how he conducts his investigation and in his relationship with his superiors. The strong development of supporting characters and the sense of place contribute mightily to the success of this book in particular and to the series as a whole.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Marshal Makes His Report and to Soho Press for providing a copy of the book for this review.

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

If you are interested in purchasing The Marshal Makes His Report from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): The suspicious looking suicide of the husband of the Marchesa of one of Florence's oldest families has the Marshal once again refusing to accept the easy answer. He insists on looking for the truth, knowing it could well be the end of his career should he find it.

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.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Savings: Save 10% on 1 Item at B&N.com

Mystery Savings periodically provides our readers with current promotions that offer discounts or other incentives for purchasing mystery-themed products and services products through our partner websites. Below is a special offer recently received by us that we're pleased to pass on at this time.

From now through December 18th, save 10% off one item at Barnes&Noble.com. Just enter coupon code D9E4E3T at checkout and the 10% discount will be applied to the highest-priced item in your cart. This coupon code is valid from December 10 through 18, 2008, and is available for online purchases only. Click on the banner link below to start shopping!

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Games of Mystery: Secret Missions Mata Hari and the Kaiser's Submarines, New at Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, and mystery getaway vacations, is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery game from Big Fish Games released today. You can find out more about these games from our Mystery Games: Big Fish Download Games page or by clicking on the links provided below.

Join the notorious World War I spy Mata Hari as she uncovers a secret German submarine base in Secret Missions: Mata Hari and the Kaiser's Submarines, a beguiling puzzle adventure. Help this smoldering femme fatale search for clues, solve enigmatic puzzles, seduce men, and infiltrate top secret military operations, all in glamorous disguise. The Allied war effort depends on Mata Hari`s ability to extract secrets and stay undetected. Can you ensure her mission succeeds? This game includes a captivating love story and twelve elegant disguises to try.

Secret Missions: Mata Hari and the Kaiser's Submarines, a Big Fish Games exclusive, may be downloaded and purchased for as little as $6.99 with the Big Fish Game Club Jumbo Pack. A demonstration version may be downloaded (104.62 MB) and played for one hour for free.

Other popular games on our download Big Fish Mystery Games page include several Agatha Christie and Nancy Drew games, games in the Mystery Case Files series and in particular the latest, Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, Art of Murder: FBI Confidential, the Carol Reed mystery Remedy, Veronica Rivers: Portals to the Unknown, Mystery Chronicles: Murder Among Friends, and The Treasures of Mystery Island.

And don't forget to visit Games of Mystery for all kinds of mysterious fun!

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Book Review: Conspiracy of Silence by Martha Powers

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

Conspiracy of Silence by Martha Powers
Non-series

Oceanview (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-933515-18-X (193351518X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-933515-18-2 (9781933515182)
Publication Date: October 2008
List Price: $24.95

Review: An intriguing prologue in which a young woman, concerned about her family's medical history, learns she's adopted sets the stage for a decades-old unsolved murder mystery in Conspiracy of Silence by Martha Powers.

Clare Prentice is engaged to be married when her doctor gives her the startling news of her adoption. Though the woman she knew as her mother has recently died, and she was told her father died when she was young, she breaks off the engagement and leaves Chicago for Grand Rapids, Minnesota, a town in which her adoptive mother once lived. A reporter for a literary magazine, Clare is given an assignment by her editor that gives her a cover story for her trip: an interview with a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who happens to live in Grand Rapids. Once there she quickly discovers that her adoptive mother had a sister who was murdered in the town, presumably by her husband who subsequently committed suicide. But strange events begin to occur that suggest Clare is in danger herself, that in trying to discover her past she may be jeopardizing her future.

Conspiracy of Silence has a kind of quiet energy that keeps the pages turning despite some obvious problems with the plot. The small town setting works to the story's advantage, allowing Clare to integrate herself into the community quickly, investigating her own identity while keeping her true reason for being there largely a secret. The author adeptly incorporates several familiar plot twists that are generally successful in misdirecting the reader but unfortunately are not sufficiently developed to generate any real suspense. And there is a heavy reliance on Clare's memory returning at convenient moments and some wildly improbable coincidences to move the plot forward. Still, the whodunit aspect is handled well and as a mystery for that snowy afternoon in front of the fireplace, Conspiracy of Silence is a good choice.

Special thanks to Maryglenn McCombs Book Publicity for providing an ARC of Conspiracy of Silence for this review.

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

If you are interested in purchasing Conspiracy of Silence from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): On a sunny day in July, Clare Prentice arrives in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Although she is on assignment to interview the town's notoriously reclusive novelist Nate Hanssen, Clare is really in search of a different story -- her story. Just months before, Clare was a bride-to-be, living in Chicago, and looking to the future. Until the day she learned her entire life had been a lie. Not only was Clare adopted, but there is no record that she or her adoptive mother ever existed. The only clue is a class ring from Grand Rapids Senior High School. Unable to get on with her future until she reconciles her past, Clare breaks off her engagement. Unraveling the mystery is like trying to sculpt fog -- until the first piece of the puzzle unexpectedly drops into place: Clare's birth mother, Lily Gundersen, was murdered in Grand Rapids. Lily's murder was one of the most talked-about events in the town's history, but no one is talking now. Clare doesn't know the whole story -- and someone intends to keep it that way.

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.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Savings: Up to $10 Off $100 or more at Biblio.com

Mystery Savings periodically provides our readers with current promotions that offer discounts or other incentives for purchasing mystery-themed products and services products through our partner websites. Below is a special offer recently received by us that we're pleased to pass on at this time.

Here's your chance to stock up on quality mystery books (or books of any genre) for family and friends. Biblio.com booksearch and marketplace is offering 10% savings on three levels of purchases:

For $3 off $30 or more, use coupon code HOLLY3;
For $5 off $50 or more, use coupon code HOLLY5; and
For $10 off $100 or more, use coupon code HOLLY10.

These offers are only available through December 21, 2008. Click on either of the banner links below to start shopping for your rare and collectible, or sale and discounted books today from Biblio.com.

 

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Book Review: Fleece Navidad by Maggie Sefton

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

Fleece Navidad by Maggie Sefton
A Knitting Mystery with Kelly Flynn

Berkley Prime Crime (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-425-22360-4 (0425223604)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-22360-4 (9780425223604)
Publication Date: September 2008
List Price: $23.95

Review: Maggie Sefton’s, Fleece Navidad, the newest novel in her Knitting Mysteries series is about as feel-good a cosy as you can get. First, it’s got all of the trappings of a customary cosy and then it’s additionally swathed with the comfortable traditions of Christmastime. Right from the artwork of its cover and the word play of its title, it’s a perfect read either while waiting for Christmas to arrive or when snuggling down after the turkey dinner has been devoured.

A former certified public accountant with a Washington, D.C. firm, Kelly Flynn relocated to Fort Connor, Colorado two years ago where she now lives with her boyfriend, has a stable of clients for her day job, volunteers to knit “hats for the homeless” with the knitters group at the House of Lambspun, and dabbles with crime as an amateur sleuth. Against the background of her previous cases that get mentioned in the story, she’s now called upon to unravel the mystery of a murder, this time a hit and run in the middle of the night. The victim is the town librarian who has just become engaged to a retired university professor. The prime suspect is a newcomer to town, a vivacious woman quickly labelled, “the Merry Widow,” because of the deaths of her three previous husbands under suspicious circumstances. Also a suitor for the professor’s affections, he dumps her the same day his fiancée is killed in the hit and run.

As circumstantial evidence mounts and the townsfolk rally to support or accuse the Widow, they happily gossip, knit, weave, and bake as the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of Christmas permeate the pages of Sefton’s book. But while they merrily go about their activities, the troubled Widow is stalked by the daughter of her last husband who has tracked her from Sarasota to Fort Connor, claiming the philandering Widow killed her father and stole a car and a credit card belonging to a neighbour lady who has since died.

For Kelly, the mysteries surrounding the Merry Widow become early Christmas presents for her Sherlockian soul as she scurries around town, from the knitters’ club to meetings with a mentoring ex-cop to interviews with suspects and bystanders. Between times she and a girlfriend corral a bunch of unruly kids into a modernized, upbeat version of a Christmas pageant at St. Mark’s Catholic Church that has everybody rolling in the aisles as a baby and a performing lamb steal the show. It’s a rewarding performance for Kelly and almost as good as unravelling the mystery of who was pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes before she needled the murderer into a confession.

As a bonus to an enjoyable read, Sefton has included a 17-page section of “Holiday Knitting Patterns” followed by nine pages of recipes for holiday treats for a Merry Christmas and a Felice Navidad.

Special thanks to M. Wayne Cunningham (mw_cunningham@telus.net) for contributing his review of Fleece Navidad and to Penguin Group for providing a copy of the book for the review.

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

If you are interested in purchasing Fleece Navidad from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas for the knitters of Fort Connor, Colorado, who are furiously working on their holiday projects. Juliet, the town's "little brown wren" librarian, is known for her beautiful handmade Christmas capes, and she has extra reason to be joyful this year-she's in love. But as soon as she finds happiness, death finds her.

Suspicion falls on a newcomer to the knitting group, but Kelly Flynn and the rest of the crew aren't convinced of this person's guilt. It's up to them to separate the true lion from the lambs- before someone else gets fleeced ...

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.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Book Awards: The 2008 Nero Award

Last Saturday, the Nero Wolfe Society announced the winner of its annual award for literary excellence in the mystery genre for books published in the previous year, the "Nero", to Jonathan Santlofer for his 2007 novel Anatomy of Fear.

Subtitled "A Novel of Visual Suspense", it features NYPD sketch artist Nate Rodriguez who possesses a remarkable gift: the ability to create an uncanny likeness of an assailant from the smallest of clues. Detective Terri Russo needs his help to solve a particularly shocking series of murders, perpetrated by a psychopath who enjoys drawing pictures of his crimes before committing them. Nate is being asked to enter the dark, twisted mind of a monster—to re-create a face that no one has lived to identify. But as a portrait slowly begins taking shape in Nate's mind and on the page, an electrifying game of cat and mouse reaches an unexpected new level -- as a brilliant killer uses his own unique talents to turn the investigation in a terrifying new direction.

For a list of previous winners of the Nero and many other mystery book awards, visit our appropriately named reference site Mystery Book Awards. And to Jonthan Santlofer, we offer our sincere congratulations!

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Author Online Book Tour: H. Terrell Griffin, Links to Blog Posts and a Winner is Announced!

Mystery Books News is thrilled to have helped coordinate the online book tour for H. Terrell Griffin whose new mystery, Blood Island, was published last week by Oceanview Publishing. Blood Island is the third book in the Matt Royal series featuring a retired attorney living on an island off the coast of Florida.

Terry visited 10 blog sites from Tuesday through Saturday of last week (December 2nd through 6th, 2008). His schedule is reprinted below with links to the individual posts on each of the host sites:

Tuesday (12/02):
• In Reference to Murder: Author Interview (post link)
• Jenn's Bookshelf: Book Review (post link)

Wednesday (12/03):
• Reader's Respite: Book Review (post link)
• Lesa's Book Critiques: Author Guest Post (post link)

Thursday (12/04):
• The Friendly Book Nook: Author Guest Post (post link)

Friday (12/05):
• Murder by 4: Author Interview (post link)
• Mystery Reader Discussion: Book Review (post link)
• Wendi's Book Corner: Author Guest Post (post link)

Saturday (12/06):
• Allie's Musings: Author Interview (post link)
• Bookish Ruth: Book Review (post link)

A complete schedule of Terry's tour including a biography and more information about Blood Island can be found at Author Book Tour: H. Terrell Griffin.

We were also delighted that Terry agreed to give away a signed copy of his new book to one lucky tour visitor. Opportunities to enter were provided on each of the host sites. The lucky visitor who won a copy of Blood Island was Carol of Monroeville (PA) who submitted her entry after visiting Reader's Respite. Congratulations!

Although the tour has concluded, we encourage you to stop by each of the tour sites to learn more about Terry, his series character Matt Royal, and living the life of a retired attorney in Florida.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Best Mysteries of 2008 from The New York Times and Los Angeles Times

Major newspapers on both coasts recently published their best mysteries lists for 2008.

Book reviewer Marilyn Stasio in The New York Times listed some 19 notable crime novels of the year spanning a wide range of the genre from legal thriller (The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly), to intellectual puzzles (Master of the Delta by Thomas H. Cook), to graceful Victorian mysteries (Buckingham Palace Gardens by Anne Perry).

Sarah Weinman in the Los Angeles Times listed about half as many titles in her column, including a strong brew of noir (The Finder by Colin Harrison), a mystery with a labyrinthine plot (The Likeness by Tana French), and a recent bestseller that lives up to all of its considerable hype (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson).

Look for our own list of the best mysteries of 2008 that we'll be posting here next week.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mysteries on TV: Lost, New This Week on DVD

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, is profiling one series that has a season DVD being released this week.

After Oceanic Air flight 815 tore apart in mid-air and crashed on a Pacific island, its survivors were forced to find inner strength they never knew they had in order to survive. But they discovered that the island held many secrets, including a mysterious smoke monster, polar bears, a strange French woman and another group of island residents known as The Others. The survivors have also found signs of those who came to the island before them, including a 19th century sailing ship called The Black Rock, the remains of an ancient statue, as well as bunkers belonging to the Dharma Initiative, a group of scientific researchers who inhabited the island in the recent past. This is the world of Lost, the fourth season of which will be released tomorrow. It is a pivotal season in the series. (Well, in many ways, they all have been!)

The Lost: Season Four DVD set of 5 discs contains the 12 episodes of the fourth season that aired on ABC during the spring of 2008. The season DVD set is also available in high definition, Lost: Season Four Blu-ray. The bonus disc really is aptly titled and contains a wealth of additional information about the series: deleted scenes, alternate endings, set design and construction, composing the soundtrack, audio commentaries, and much, much more.

See the trailer for Lost Season 4 below:

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

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for December 08, 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 I K N O R S

This is the name of the skeleton newspaper reporter in a children’s mystery series by Doug Cushman (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!

   

Return to Mystery Books News ...