New Hardcover Mysteries for March 2009

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books has updated its list of new hardcover mysteries with books scheduled for publication in March 2009.

As we've done for several months now, we're listing those authors with returning series characters, new series characters, and non-series or stand-alone mysteries in separate sections. All titles are available on our March mystery books page. We're also using the "carousel" widget by Amazon.com to display a random selection of titles; refreshing this page will change the selection displayed.

Authors with mysteries having returning series characters (in parentheses) this month:

Sandi Ault (Jamaica Wild), Linda Berry (Trudy Roundtree), Cara Black (Aimee Leduc), Rhys Bowen (Molly Murphy), Don Bruns (Mick Sever), Dorothy Cannell (Ellie Haskell), Kate Charles (Callie Anson), Laura Childs (Theodosia Browning, Tea Shop), Harlan Coben (Myron Bolitar), K. O. Dahl (Frank Frolich), Gordon Dahlquist (The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters), Clive Cussler and Jack DuBrul (Oregon Files), Diane Fanning (Lucinda Pierce), Joanne Fluke (Hannah Swensen), Ariana Franklin (Adelia Aguilar), Brian Freeman (Jonathan Stride), Jason Goodwin (Yashim Togalu), Kerry Greenwood (Phryne Fisher), Andrew Gross (Ty Hauck), David Hagberg (McGarvey), Veronica Heley (Abbot Agency), David Hewson (Nic Costa), Marshall Karp (Lomax and Biggs), Philip Kerr (Bernard Gunther), Thomas Lakeman (Mike Yeager), Margit Liesche (Pucci Lewis), Robert Liparulo (John Hutchinson), Gail Lukasik (Leigh Girard), Lisa Lutz (Isabel Spellman), Evan Marshall (Anna Winthrop), Kathleen McGowan (Maureen Paschal), Anne Perry (William Monk), Bill Pronzini (Nameless Detective), Peter Robinson (Alan Banks), David Rollins (Vin Cooper), Susan Arnout Smith (Grace Descanso), Olen Steinhauer (Emil Brod), David Sundstrand (Frank Flynn, Desert Sky), Martyn Waites (Joe Donovan), Randy Wayne White (Doc Ford), Qiu Xiaolong (Chen Cao)

Authors with mysteries introducing new series characters (in parentheses) this month:

Will Adams (Daniel Knox), Marc Blatte (Black Sallie Blue Eyes), Linda Lea Castle (Carmen Pollini), Daniel Depp (David Spandau), Carola Dunn (Cornish), Jonathan Kellerman (Moses Reed and Aaron Fox), Julie Korzenko (Cassidy Lowell), Walter Mosley (Leonid McGill), A. E. Roman (Chico Santana), Kris Saknussemm (Birch Ritter), Martin Walker (Bruno, Chief of Police)

Authors with non-series or stand-alone mysteries this month:

Richard Aaron, Janet Burroway, Jack Coughlin and Donald A. Davis, Don Dahler, Barry Eisler, Joy Fielding, Sebastian Fitzek, William R. Forstchen, Earlene Fowler, Nicci French, Katy Gardner, Matt Haig, Tony Hays, Bill James, Peter Leonard, Paul Levine, Laura Lippman, Richard Lowry and Keith Korman, Rebbie Macintyre, Kyle Mills, Christian Moerk, Michael Murray, Matthew Pearl, Otto Penzler, Jodi Picoult, Jonathan Rabb, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Karen Robards, Michael Robotham, Robert Rotenberg, Peter Schechter, Roger Smith, Stephen Solomita, Martin H. Greenberg, Jon L. Lellenberg, and Daniel Stashower, Christina Sunley, Andrew Taylor, Barbara Vine, Walter Jon Williams, Brian M. Wiprud

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, also updated with March 2009 releases.

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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Mysteries on TV: Jesse Stone Thin Ice Airs This Sunday on CBS

Set your DVRs! The fifth Jesse Stone movie, Jesse Stone: Thin Ice, is scheduled to air this Sunday, March 1st, on CBS (9 PM ET).

Yesterday, CBS released the cast and production credits for the made-for-television movie. In addition to starring Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone, returning characters include Kathy Baker as Rose Gammon and Kohl Sudduth as Luther "Suitcase" Simpson. The movie was filmed in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

In a synopsis provided by the network, Paradise (Massachusetts) Police Chief Jesse Stone finds himself in trouble with the Town Council when he inadvertently becomes involved in a shoot-out on a Boston street. His friend, State Homicide Commander Healy, is seriously wounded and Jesse comes under investigation by the Boston Police Department's Internal Affairs Division, which causes him to be away from Paradise for extended periods of time.

Thin Ice is the fifth movie in this series of telemovies based on the character created by Robert B. Parker, but the first not to be adapted from on any of the existing mystery books. The previous four movies, all highly recommended by MBN, are available on DVD from Mysteries on TV: Jesse Stone.

A sixth movie, Jesse Stone: No Remorse, wrapped up production last November. No air date has been set.

Please visit 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.

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First Clues Review: The Unusual Suspects by Michael Buckley

First Clues: Mysteries for Kids is delighted to introduce a new feature for our website, book reviews written by students. These students offer their unique perspective on the book in their review and provide a valuable resource to parents looking for new mystery adventures for their kids to read.

The Unusual Suspects by Michael Buckley
The Sisters Grimm Series

Amulet (Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-8109-9323-6 (0810993236)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8109-9323-5 (9780810993235)
Publication Date: April 2007
List Price: $6.95

Review written by Tiffany, Age 12, Grade 6. Date of review: February 2009.

Review: Blood-red handprints have been showing up everywhere: Sabrina and Daphne's parents old abandoned car, the school chalkboard, murder scenes, rooftops, and asylums! The girls are hot on the tail of The Scarlet Hand and know they will get closer as time goes by! But will they ever actually catch her? Find out in The Unusual Suspects by Michael Buckley. This book was published in 2005. Fans of the first book The Fairy-Tale Detectives were overjoyed when this book was published.

There is a murderer or murderers roaming around the school. Sabrina and Daphne need to figure out who is murdering all of the school staff! The girls find half-girl half-frogs, giant spiders, and monstrous children. The girls and Puck must sneak around the school to figure out who has been murdering people. Sabrina accuses every Everafter in sight, believing one is responsible for her parents kidnapping. They even fight off Jabberwockies and murderers along the way to figuring out who is killing many people and maybe even getting one step closer to figuring out who had stolen their parents and why.

I honestly loved this book. It is full of fairy-tales and fables with an odd twist on them. I think it was really cool how the author turned fairy-tales and child's play into something that could give little children nightmares! He managed to make them as though they lived in today's real community, and among us all. It seems he could have experienced it all before. Michael Buckley is an amazing author and I among others honor his great writing skills! I would suggest this book and any others in his series in a flash!

If you are interested in purchasing The Unusual Suspects from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

First Clue Mysteries is pleased to provide information on over 100 mystery series for children and young adults. Each series is conveniently listed under three different age categories (New Sleuth, ages 4 to 7; Future Sleuth, aged 7 to 10; and Sleuth in Training, ages 10 and older). If you have a favorite mystery series you'd like to see added to our site, please contact us.

All student book reviews are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced in any manner, print or electronic, without the express written consent of the copyright owner. Reviews are published here with permission of the copyright owner.

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Sleuthfest Begins Tomorrow in Deerfield Beach, Florida

Sleuthfest begins tomorrow afternoon, February 28, 2009, with Third Degree Thursday, workshops presented by masters of the craft, manuscript critiques, and seminars on the business side of writing. The conference itself runs Friday through Sunday morning.

Hosted by the Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America, Sleuthfest is being held at the Deerfield Beach Hilton in Deerfield Beach, Florida (see map). Special guests of honor this year are authors John Hart and Brad Meltzer.

Visit the Sleuthfest website for registration information and a schedule of events.

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Her Interactive Announces 20th Game in the Nancy Drew Series

Her Interactive announced in a press release today the 20th installment in their popular Nancy Drew series of mystery games, Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Seas.

"Our 20th game in the series is a great milestone for us, and our 2009 lineup promises to enhance the franchise in subtle ways that could attract an even wider audience," said Megan Gaiser, President and CEO of Her Interactive.

In Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships, Nancy Drew, and her best friends Bess and George travel to the Bahamas for a fun-filled vacation when Bess is suddenly kidnapped and held for ransom. Throughout the game, players assume the role of either Nancy or George, depending on the scene, as they search for the missing artifact from the “Seven Virtues” fleet that will rescue Bess from the kidnappers. During the quest for the lost treasure, players will immerse themselves in the Bahamas diving, sailing, and interacting with wildlife. They will also decrypt a riddle book, unlock treasure chests and explore dangerous underwater shipwrecks.

Rated E for Everyone, the game is expected to be available in July 2009.

You can find all games in the Nancy Drew series, including those available for the PC, Nintendo Wii and DS, and for immediate download, on our website, Games of Mystery: Nancy Drew.

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Mystery Book Review: The Renegades by T. Jefferson Parker

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of The Renegades by T. Jefferson Parker. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

The Renegades by T. Jefferson Parker
A Charlie Hood Mystery

Dutton (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-525-95095-8 (0525950958)
ISBN-13: 978-0-525-95095-0 (9780525950950)
Publication Date: February 2009
List Price: $26.95

Review: Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff Charlie Hood searches for those responsible for killing his partner in The Renegades, a sequel to L. A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker.

For six months now, Hood has been working the swing shift in Antelope Valley, the Siberia of the Sheriff’s Department authority, but that's just fine with him. There's nothing but trouble for him downtown. He prefers driving alone through the valley and the desert. But not tonight. Tonight he's been assigned a partner, one Terry Laws, a well-liked, much-admired veteran of the department known by everyone as "Mr. Wonderful". Assisting two men on a routine call for the Housing Authority, Laws is gunned down in their car with a shot through the passenger side window. Hood is able to slide out of the driver’s side, but held down by gun fire. He, too, could have been killed but wasn’t. Was it fate that saved him? Or did the shooter, someone wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap with a "D" on it, and a red, Western-style bandana folded into a triangle over his face, intentionally miss him? Maybe Mr. Wonderful wasn't so wonderful after all and had something to hide. Hood is summoned to Internal Affairs and finds himself looking into the shooting.

Just who was Terry Laws? Know the target, and you'll know the shooter, or so he is told. And the target, as Hood soon finds out, was hardly a model cop. Hood learns that Laws' previous partner, Coleman Draper, is involved in the importation of drugs from Mexico, and suspects Mr. Wonderful was as well. Since he cannot enter Mexico to hunt down the lawbreakers, he must be patient until he can apprehend them in California. And he doesn't have long to wait.

The Renegades is a beautifully crafted thriller. Parker infuses his story with rich details of the setting, visions of the barren desert and the lofty mountains, which add depth and intensity to the plot. The superbly drawn characters are intriguing, especially Charlie Hood who, just 29 years old, is far more complex than his young age would indicate. And the suspenseful plot, what drives the story forward with its unfolding sequence of revelations, will capture the reader's imagination and not let go.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Renegades and to Penguin Group for providing a copy of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

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

Synopsis (from the publisher): Some say that outlaws no longer exist, that the true spirit of the American West died with the legendary bandits of pulp novels and bedtime stories. Charlie Hood knows that nothing could be further from the truth. These days he patrols vast stretches of the new American West, not on horseback but in his cruiser. The outlaws may not carry six-shooters, but they’re strapped all the same.

Along the desolate and dusty roads of this new frontier, Hood prefers to ride alone, and he prefers to ride at night. At night, his headlights illuminate only the patch of pavement ahead of him: all the better to hide from the demons -- and the dead outlaws -- receding in his rearview mirror.

But he doesn’t always get what he wants -- certainly not when he’s assigned a partner named Terry Laws, a county veteran who everyone calls “Mr. Wonderful.” And not when Laws is shot dead in the passenger seat and Hood is left to bear witness by someone who knew that Mr. Wonderful didn’t always live up to his nickname. As he sets out to find the gunman, Hood knows one thing for sure: The West is a state of mind, one where the bad guys sometimes wear white hats -- and the good guys seek justice in whatever shade of gray they can 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.

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Mystery Book Awards: Nominees for the 2008 Agatha Award Announced

The nominees for this year's Agatha Award were announced today by Malice Domestic. The award, named in honor of Agatha Christie, is given out annually to the best "traditional mysteries" (in several categories) published in the previous year.

For Best Novel, the nominees are:

Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews (St. Martin's Minotaur)
A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen (Penguin Group)
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Buckingham Palace Gardens by Anne Perry (Random House)
I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming (St. Martin's Minotaur)

For Best First Novel, the nominees are:

Through a Glass, Deadly by Sarah Atwell (Berkley Prime Crime)
The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis (Penguin Group)
Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Death of a Cozy Writer by G. M. Malliet (Midnight Ink)
Paper, Scissors, Death by Joanna Campbell Slan (Midnight Ink)

And for Best Children's / Young Adult, the nominees are:

Into the Dark by Peter Abrahams (Harper Collins)
A Thief in the Theater, A Kit Mystery by Sarah Masters Buckey (American Girl Publishers)
The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein (Random House Children's Books)
The Great Circus Train Robbery by Nancy Means Wright (Hilliard & Harris)

indicates a review by Mysterious Reviews.

The winners in the above categories as well as for Best Non-Fiction and Best Short Story will be announced at the Agatha Awards banquet on May 02, 2009, during Malice Domestic Convention in Arlington (VA).

Congratulations from everyone at Mystery Books News to the nominees!

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Two Canadian Crime Dramas to Air in US

Two crime dramas from our neighbors to the north will soon be available on US network television.

CTV reported last week that its original series The Bridge, which it only recently ordered into production, has been picked up by CBS. Inspired by the insights of veteran insider and outspoken former Toronto police union head Craig Bromell, The Bridge provides an unflinching look at the struggle street cops face as they battle criminals -- and their own bosses -- in order to protect society and, ultimately, themselves. Production is scheduled to begin this May in Toronto.

And yesterday, CBC reported that its series The Border has been sold to ION Television. The Border, which returns for its third season this fall on CBC, follows the Immigration and Customs Security team as it monitors the US / Canada border, largest undefended border in the world. ION expects to air the series on its cable channel later this year.

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Games of Mystery: Paranormal Agency, 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.

Heather Mills is a detective with paranormal abilities that allows her to see ghosts and mysterious objects that are not visible to other people in Paranormal Agency. Use her special sight to solve paranormal crimes, solve puzzling mini-games, and banish poltergeists from the city! Discover phenomenal events with Heather and find out who is guilty in this hidden object mystery!

Paranormal Agency is 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, 29.8 MB).

Other popular games on our download PlayFirst Mystery Games page include other 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!

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Author Online Book Tour: Barbara Levenson, Fatal February, Giveaway Winner

Mystery Books News is pleased to have coordinated last week's online book tour for Barbara Levenson whose new mystery, Fatal February, was published earlier this month by Oceanview Publishing. Fatal February is the author's debut mystery and features Mary Magruder Katz, a criminal defense attorney in Miami.

As part of the tour, visitors to each host site could pick up a unique PIN to be used to enter a giveaway for a signed copy of Fatal February.

Today we're thrilled to announce that Nikki from Hebron (KY) was the lucky winner after visiting Booking Mama!

We encourage you to visit each of the tour sites to read reviews of Fatal February, interviews with Barbara, and several guest posts written by the author. During the tour, Barbara revealed her second book in the Mary Magruder Katz series will be published next year by Oceanview and will be titled Justice in June.

Her tour page can be found at Author Book Tour: Barbara Levenson.

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Press Release: Previously Unpublished Mark Twain Work to Appear in The Strand Magazine

February 24, 2009: Birmingham (MI) -- The Strand Magazine announces the forthcoming publication of a previously-unpublished Mark Twain short story in an upcoming issue of The Strand. Adding to a long-running tradition of publishing works by such great writers as Conan Doyle (published in the original Strand -- 1891-1950), Ray Bradbury, Alexander McCall Smith, and Ruth Rendell, The Strand will feature Twain’s “The Undertaker’s Tale” in its March 2009 issue.

Andrew Gulli, editor of The Strand, said he grew up reading Mark Twain, and calls the opportunity to publish Twain’s work “an editor’s dream.” While “The Undertaker’s Tale,” will be published nearly 99 years after Twain’s death in 1910, Gulli notes that the work is both timely and timeless.

According to Gulli, “Though the story is called ‘The Undertaker's Tale,’ I would hazard against bracing for something gloomy—Twain uses his razor sharp wit to pen a tongue-in-cheek tale about the funeral industry, which could easily have been written today. After rereading several of Twain’s tales and essays, it became even clearer to me that Twain’s writings can never be dated. He tackles the same problems we're challenged with today, and pokes fun at the same characters that inhabit our present-day world.”

Moreover, added Gulli, “We are especially thrilled because this issue will also feature a P.G. Wodehouse story that has been lost for almost 100 years.”

Marking the first time an unpublished work of fiction by Mark Twain has appeared in years, The Strand will publish “The Undertaker’s Tale” in the March 2009 issue, available on March 10, 2009.

“The opportunity to publish something by such a literary icon as Mark Twain is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Frank Simon, Associate Publisher of The Strand. "We publishers just live for the chance to be a part of something like this."

Bob Miller, Publisher at HarperStudio, which will release Who is Mark Twain, a collection of Twain’s previously unpublished stories and essays later this year. commented, “The idea of publishing never-before-pieces by Mark Twain appealed to me for a number of reasons: I like the irony of starting something new with something old, as Twain was published from 1895 until 1910 by Harper Brothers, the company within which we are now starting HarperStudio. Also, the pieces themselves are wonderfully, hilariously contemporary, and deserve as wide an audience as possible.”

The Strand Magazine (www.strandmag.com) is the nation’s leading mystery publication. Published quarterly, The Strand Magazine brings to the forefront the best of today’s mystery fiction, articles, interviews and reviews. From hard-boiled detective stories to cozies, The Strand covers a broad spectrum of the mystery genre. A known and trusted name for fiction by some of today’s best authors, The Strand features in-depth interviews with best-selling writers, enlightening articles, as well as insightful reviews of the latest mysteries and thrillers, including children’s and young adult mysteries, and audiobooks.

For more information, please contact Maryglenn McCombs by phone -- (615) 297-9875, or by email -- maryglenn@maryglenn.com.

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Agatha Christie's Summer Home, Greenway House, Opens to Public this Saturday

Greenway House, Agatha Christie’s summer home, is opening to the public for the first time beginning this Saturday, February 28th. Christie fans will be able to visit the house she described as "the loveliest place in the world". It is located on the bank of the River Dart in Devon.

Craftsmen have worked for two years to restore the house to gleaming 1950s condition. The rooms remain much as they were when the mystery writer lived there, complete with books, papers, boxes of chocolates and flowers. The house and grounds were the inspiration for the Hercule Poirot mystery Dead Man's Folly. Even the estate's boathouse is included in the story, where the victim, Marlene Tucker, is found murdered.

The house and grounds were donated by Christie's family to The National Trust in 2000.

More information about Greenway House can be found on the Agatha Christie website, or on The National Trust website.

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Mystery Book Review: Valley of the Lost by Vicki Delany

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

Valley of the Lost by Vicki Delany
A Molly Smith Mystery

Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-595-X (159058595X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-595-5 (9781590585955)
Publication Date: February 2009
List Price: $24.95

Review: In the pastoral mountain village of Trafalgar, British Columbia, Detective Sergeant John Winters and probationary Constable Molly Smith investigate the suspicious death of a young mother in Valley of the Lost, the second mystery in this series by Vicki Delany.

Molly’s mother, Lucky, actually found the young woman's body, chancing across it in the woods. Next to her lies a crying infant, a boy. Lucky, who operates the Trafalgar Women’s Support Center, takes the boy under her care. His mother appears to have died of a heroin overdose. The autopsy reveals that she had indeed overdosed but there were also restraint marks on her wrists indicating that she may have been murdered. And most puzzling of all, she had never given birth. The infant boy could not be hers. Only the dead woman’s roommate can actually identify her, but by her first name only -- Ashley. She tells Winters and Smith Ashley had never revealed her last name. No one else in the small village will even admit remembering talking to her. How can they find the girl’s family if they cannot identify her? Winters and Smith make tentative links to a psychologist who worked with Ashley to help her kick her drug habit but who suddenly denies having seen her recently, and a number of people associated with the development of a huge resort that may endanger the habitat of some local wildlife species. The connections between these are not clear, but one thing is certain: a baby boy is their only clue.

The contrast between the peaceful, seemingly idyllic community of Trafalgar and big money land development, drug trade, and murder form the foundation for this riveting mystery. The author effectively integrates an engrossing whodunit within a social commentary on small town life. Her observations ring true primarily due to the credible characters she has created. The intricate, well thought out plot also helps, and will keep readers guessing until the surprise ending. Valley of the Lost is an impressive sequel to the first book in the series and is highly recommended.

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

Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

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

Synopsis (from the publisher): In the bucolic mountain town of Trafalgar, British Columbia, a young woman is found dead of a heroin overdose, her baby lying at her side. While this should be an open-and-shut drug case, restraint marks on the victim suggest that the death might not have been completely accidental.

As the investigation into the young woman’s death and life grows, the case becomes increasingly personal for Probationary Constable Molly Smith and Sergeant John Winters. Only two things are known about the dead woman: her first name is Ashley, and she has a three-month-old baby boy. Who was she? And was this is just a drug deal gone wrong, or is there something more sinister at play? Smith’s mother, Lucky, has taken in the orphaned baby: does he hold the key to solving his mother’s murder?

Meanwhile, Winters’ wife, Eliza, is considering accepting a modeling contract with the same resort development that seems to be ripping the close-knit community apart. Has the controversial project pushed a member of this quiet community to murder?

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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Law & Order: UK Premieres This Evening on ITV1

The latest addition to the Law & Order family of series television, Law & Order: UK, premieres this evening on ITV1. The series closely follows the original format combining a police procedural with the more complex dilemmas of mounting a successful prosecution.

Today's Telegraph has a background article on the new series featuring comments from the series creator, Dick Wolf. "Law & Order has always been shot in a specific way," he says. "So just as we previously have with New York, we’re using the landscape of London as an integral part of the stories."

The series is expected to run 13 episodes this season. We have no doubt that it will be available on DVD for those of us in the US to enjoy later this year. [MBN note: More information about the series, including interviews with the new cast, can be found on the Law & Order website on ITV.com. Season DVDs for the US-based series, currently the longest running crime drama on network television, can be found at Mysteries on TV: Law & Order.]

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Mystery Author Interview: Efrem Sigel

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, recently had the opportunity to talk to mystery author Efrem Sigel. We're delighted to share that conversation here first for our blog readers in advance of its publication on our website.

Photo courtesy of Efrem Sigel.

Efrem Sigel has been a journalist, editor and founder, with his wife Frederica, of two business publishing companies. He is the author of four nonfiction books about communications technology, hundreds of magazine and newsletter articles, and, in recent years, a score of published short stories. The stories, which he began publishing in the late 90s, have won a number of prizes and have garnered six Pushcart nominations from various literary magazines where they have appeared.

Efrem’s first novel, The Kermanshah Transfer, a novel of Middle Eastern intrigue, came out in 1973. Now, 35 years later, The Disappearance is being published by The Permanent Press.

Mysterious Reviews: The disappearance of a child, the subject of your new novel, The Disappearance, is a tough subject for some readers to confront. Is it also a tough subject to write about?

Answer: The subject itself is tough but that doesn’t mean the writing is tough. Actually, the stark simplicity of the plot -- a 14-year old boy disappears from a tiny hamlet and for months no one knows what has happened to him -- set against the very small town in which it occurs created the tension that propelled the story forward. I felt there was a built-in momentum to the story that kept me moving in the right direction.

What is your process for writing such a novel? Did you see the beginning and end clearly, from the outset?

I saw the beginning clearly. As for the ending, I knew what had happened; I didn’t know who and more importantly, how and why until I got into it. It was very much trial and error to find a resolution that fit both the characters and the setting.

The Disappearance
by Efrem Sigel
The Permanent Press
February 2009
ISBN-10: 1579621505
ISBN-13: 9781579621803

What exactly is the setting, and how did you choose it?

The story takes place in Smithfield, a fictional town of 500 people in western Massachusetts. It’s an area of natural beauty, of hills and farms and vistas, but surprisingly isolated from the larger world around it. It’s an area I know well, and the fascination for me was the question of how and why a terrible event would take place in such a bucolic setting.

It's been noted that The Disappearance is both a character study and a mystery. Was that always your intention or is it something that developed in the course of the writing?

Daniel Sandler is the child who disappears but the story really revolves around his parents, Joshua and Nathalie. From the outset I knew that I could not just write another “Child disappears, who did it and why?” mystery. I’m the father of two sons, and as soon as I began writing the book, I knew the real drama involved the parents: Can they cope? Can their marriage survive? Out of tragedy can there be love and hope? By creating two characters with very different feelings and motivations, I was striving for a degree of tension between the parents that would parallel and even accentuate the tension of not knowing what had happened to their son.

What is your writing routine? Did you encounter any periods when you were stymied and unable to work on the book?

When I am really into something I try to write every day or at least six days a week. The problem is that you inevitably hit days when you produce words and pages but know that you’re not making progress. I’m not the kind of writer who can move a story along day by day so that in six or nine months it’s done. It really took seven or eight years and many drafts until I felt I had finished the book. For me it’s write and revise, write and revise, and only when I look back on it do I realize that some of my most creative work was simply discarding what didn’t work.

Thirty-five years between your first novel, The Kermanshah Transfer, and your second, The Disappearance, is a long time by any reckoning. Can we expect to see a third novel?

During those 35 years I wrote four nonfiction books and started and managed a couple of business newsletter companies, so I was always writing. I only went back to fiction in a sustained way about 10 years ago, first with short stories and then The Disappearance. And yes, I have started on a third book and I have promised myself it will not take anything like 35 years.

What advice do you have for people who want to write a mystery?

Why aren’t you writing it today? Lots of people say “I have a book in me.” But the work is getting the book out.

Was it hard to find a publisher for The Disappearance?

Don’t ask! I’m just lucky to have found The Permanent Press, whose co-publishers have a great love of fiction and the guts to publish it against all odds.

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We'd like to offer our thanks to Efrem Sigel for taking the time to visit with us. For more information about the author and his novel The Disappearance visit EfremSigel.com.

To read our interviews with other mystery authors, or to peruse our 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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