Harlequin Mira Mystery and Suspense Titles for August 2009

eHarlequin.com has announced the August 2009 titles for their Mira imprint, the brightest stars in women's fiction. From all titles available, we've only listed those that are mystery, thriller, or suspense on this page. To purchase any of the books below, click on the book title or the book cover. (Previous months titles can be found on the backlist page.)

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Face Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan
A Charlotte "Charlie" McNally Mystery (2nd in series)

Veteran TV reporter Charlotte McNally fights for justice, journalism—and the battle against on-air aging. The good news: she's got explosive evidence to free an innocent woman from prison. The bad news: that makes Charlotte—and someone she loves—the real killer's next target.

Charlotte knows she has what it takes to get the story. Unfortunately, the more Charlotte snoops around, the more people turn up dead.

Read our Review of Face Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan.

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Cold Case by Kate Wilhelm
A Barbara Holloway Mystery (11th in series)

Twenty-two years ago, controversial author David Etheridge and ambitious state senator Robert McCrutchen were investigated in the death of a young coed. But a circle of secrecy guaranteed the case was never solved.

When Etheridge returns to Eugene, Oregon, McCrutchen is his grudging host—until the senator is found shot dead. Now Etheridge is back where he was two decades ago—suspected of murder. Only this time, with the cold case reopened, he's facing a double charge.

Barbara must battle the prosecution and the court of public opinion, which has already tried and convicted Etheridge for both murders. As the pressure mounts, Barbara ties the past and present together, risking her own life to preserve justice.

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Red, White & Dead by Laura Caldwell
An Izzy McNeil Mystery (3rd in series)

Izzy McNeil is hot on the trail of one of Chicago's most notorious gangsters. Not that he realizes the crimson-tressed enchantress, a self-proclaimed "lapsed lawyer," is moonlighting as a private investigator. But when an unexpected run-in trashes Izzy's cover, she's swept into an evil underworld where she is definitely not safe.

That is until Izzy receives help from an unlikely source: the ultimate guardian angel. And the last person she ever dreamed she'd see again. Now Izzy is racing from Chicago to Rome, all the while battling personal demons, Mafiosi killers and red hot emergency desires.

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The Perfect Couple by Brenda Novak
A Last Stand Mystery (4th in series)

One afternoon in May, Zoe Duncan's thirteen-year-old daughter goes missing from her own backyard. The police think Samantha ran away because she's unhappy about her mother's upcoming marriage—but Zoe doesn't believe it. In fact, she's willing to do anything to bring Sam home, even if it means losing her job, her beautiful home, her fiancé. Even if it means divulging all her secrets to a private investigator.

Jonathan Stivers is a P.I. who donates his time to The Last Stand, a victims' charity in Sacramento. He's good at what he does, the best. But never has he had fewer leads to work with—or been more attracted to a client. Jonathan's sure of only one thing: Sam was taken by someone close to the family. He doesn't know how close until he realizes that the "perfect" couple next door is anything but.

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Mystery Author Michael Connelly to Appear on Second Season Premiere Episode of Castle

According to the website of bestselling mystery author Michael Connelly, he will be appearing on the second season premiere episode of ABC's "novel" crime drama Castle. The episode is scheduled to air September 21st at 10 PM (ET/PT).

In the series premiere earlier this year, mystery writers James Patterson and Stephen J. Cannell had cameos as Castle's poker playing buddies. Though the episode information for the second season premiere has been posted, there is no mention of what role Michael Connelly might play.

Watch an ABC promo for Castle below:

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Firsts on the 1st: New Series Characters Being Introduced in August 2009 Mysteries

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books recently updated its list of August 2009 hardcover mysteries as well put up new August paperbacks on The Mystery Bookshelf. In this post, which we're calling Firsts on the 1st, we're introducing readers to new series characters who will make their debut during August.

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Title: Hemingway Deadlights
Author: Michael Atkinson
Series Character: Ernest Hemingway
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize winning author Ernest Hemingway turns amateur sleuth in this hard-boiled series that mixes fact with fiction, set during the author's later years in Key West, Florida.

His first case: It is 1956 and Ernest Hemingway has spent much of the year at his home in Key West, hiding from tourists and autograph hunters. But a friend’s sudden death rouses Papa from his idyll. To say that the cause of death is suspicious is to put it lightly. It’s not every day that a part-time smuggler is impaled on a harpoon.

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Title: Sew Deadly
Author: Elizabeth Lynn Casey
Series Character: Tori Sinclair
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: Yankee Tori Sinclair has just moved to the tiny town of Sweet Briar, South Carolina, where she is the new librarian and is active in the sewing circle.

Her first case: Tori's been so busy adding a children’s corner to the library, winning over the women of the sewing circle, and trying to forget her cheating ex that she hasn’t had time to even baste together a pillow, never mind pay attention to the local gossip. Then she finds the town sweetheart dead at her back door, and everything else falls by the wayside. Everyone believes the police investigator, who’s just fixin’ to link Tori to the murder in a love triangle gone bad through a handsome third-grade teacher. To clear her name, Tori will have to rely on her new sewing sisters and stitch together the truth–or else she’ll be darned.

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Title: A Slice of Murder
Author: Chris Cavender
Series Character: Eleanor Swift
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: Eleanor Swift owns a pizzeria in Timber Ridge (NC) called A Slice of Delight. She has a sassy and occasionally married sister, Maddy, and her ex-boyfriend, Kevin Jurley, is the town's police chief.

Her first case: Not too much happens in the sleepy little town of Timber Ridge, North Carolina -- which is fine with pizza-purveyor extraordinaire Eleanor Swift. The spunky owner of A Slice of Delight is trying to mend her broken heart and could use a little quiet time. But when a late night delivery customer turns up dead, she's in for just the opposite.

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Title: Devil's Trill
Author: Gerald Elias
Series Character: Daniel Jacobus
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: Daniel Jacobus is a blind, reclusive, crotchety violin teacher living in self-imposed exile in rural New England. He spends his time chain-smoking, listening to old LPs, and occasionally taking on new students, whom he berates in the hope that they will flee.

His first case: Daniel Jacobus is drawn back into the world he left behind when he decides to attend The Grimsley Competition at Carnegie Hall. The young winner of this competition is granted the honor of playing the Piccolino Stradivarius, a uniquely dazzling three-quarter-size violin that has brought misfortune to all who possessed it over the centuries. But the violin is stolen before the winner of the competition has a chance to play it, and Jacobus is the primary suspect. He sets out to prove his innocence and find the stolen Piccolino Strad.

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Title: A Bad Day for Sorry
Author: Sophie Littlefield
Series Character: Stella Hardesty
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: Stella Hardesty dispatched her abusive husband with a wrench shortly before her fiftieth birthday. A few years later, she’s so busy delivering home-style justice on her days off, helping other women deal with their own abusive husbands and boyfriends, that she barely has time to run her sewing shop in her rural Missouri hometown.

Her first case: When young mother Chrissy Shaw asks Stella for help with her no-good husband, Roy Dean, it looks like an easy case. Until Roy Dean disappears with Chrissy’s two-year-old son, Tucker. Stella quickly learns that Roy Dean was involved with some very scary men, as she tries to sort out who’s hiding information and who’s merely trying to kill her. It’s going to take a hell of a fight to get the little boy back home to his mama, but if anyone can do it, it’s Stella Hardesty.

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Title: Bundle of Trouble
Author: Diana Orgain
Series Character: Kate Connolly
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: First-time mother Kate Connolly, on leave from her job as an office manager, takes on the role of private investigator to bring in a little extra cash. After all, the hours are flexible, she can bring the baby along on stake-outs, and if you’re going to be up all night anyway, you might as well solve some crimes!

Her first case: Kate receives a disturbing phone call telling her that a body has been pulled from San Francisco Bay, and the police think it may be her brother-in-law. Now, in addition to trying to solve the mystery of how one six-pound baby can generate ten times her weight in laundry, Kate finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation with multiplying victims. And when her husband is detained in connection with the crimes, Kate must crack the case faster than you can say “diaper rash” to keep her little family together.

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Title: Whack 'N' Roll
Author: Gail Oust
Series Character: Kate McCall
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: Kate McCall is a 60ish widow and crime and punishment junkie who lives at Serenity Cove Estates, a retirement community for "active" adults. She loves playing a dice game called Bunco, and her bi-monthly Bunco group is known as the "Bunco Babes".

Her first case: Kate and her friends discover a severed arm in a Wal-Mart bag while playing golf. Armed with The Complete Idiots Guide to Forensics, Kate sets out to solve the crime--much to the chagrin of Sheriff Sumter Wiggins. Along the way, Kate enlists the help of the Bunco Babes; together they are a force to be reckoned with as they eliminate possible victims then zero in on "persons of interest."

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For a list of more mysteries scheduled for publication during August, please visit our New Mysteries home page. If you're interested in new paperbacks, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where you can discover a library of new mysteries, also updated with August 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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Games of Mystery: She is a Shadow, 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 by visiting our Mystery Games: Big Fish Download Games page or by clicking on the links provided below.

Download →

In She is a Shadow, Hanna's son has been kidnapped by an old employer that wants her to go back to her criminal life. Hanna used to be "The Shadow", a master thief, but she gave it all up when her husband was murdered. Now it's up to you to use her skills to survive long enough to free her son, figure out who killed her husband, and bring down the mob in this exciting hidden object game. Sounds easy enough when you're ... a Shadow!

Also available: She is a Shadow Strategy Guide and a She is a Shadow Game Walkthrough.

She is a Shadow may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (97.14 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.

Watch a preview video below:

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, Adventure Chronicles: The Search for Lost Treasure, Enlightenus, Cate West: The Vanishing Files, Return to Mysterious Island 2: Mina's Fate, and Nick Chase: A Detective Story.

Read our new game reviews by Ms. Terri: Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses! (Review), The Hardy Boys: The Perfect Crime (Review), Enlightenus (Review), and Nick Chase: A Detective Story (Review).

Big Fish Games: Bestsellers

Big Fish Games: New releases

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

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Mystery Author William G. Tapply Dies

The Boston Globe and Boston Herald are reporting that mystery writer William G. Tapply died yestesday at his home in New Hampshire after a battle with leukemia. He was 69.

Tapply published his first mystery featuring Boston attorney Brady Coyne, Death at Charity's Point, in 1984. Coyne would go on to appear in 24 novels, the most recent, Hell Bent, published last year. An avid outdoorsman, Tapply began a new mystery series several years ago with Stoney Calhoun, a bait-and-tackle shop owner in a small town in Maine. The third book in this series, Gray Ghost, publishes next month. He was also good friends with Philip R. Craig, a fellow New England mystery writer with whom they co-wrote three mysteries. Craig died in 2007.

Tapply is survived by his wife, Vicki Stiefel, five children, his mother and his sister.

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Mystery Book Review: Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey

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

Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey
A Darko Dawson Mystery

Random House (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-4000-6759-6 (1400067596)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4000-6759-6 (9781400067596)
Publication Date: July 2009
List Price: $24.00

Review: Kwei Quartey's compelling debut mystery, Wife of the Gods, introduces Ghanian Detective Inspector Darko Dawson investigating the murder of a medical student in a village some distance from his home (and jurisdiction) in the country's capital of Accra.

The crime is unusual and the government authorities have requested help from the capital, whose forensic knowledge far exceeds that of the local police force. The victim has no obvious injuries and is found posed as if sleeping in the woods. Dawson, however, has mixed feelings about accepting the assignment and returning to the village of Ketanu. He has been there only once, over 25 years ago, to visit his aunt and uncle. On a later visit, when just his mother went, she disappeared on returning home. Whether she is alive or dead, no one knows. Still, the case interests him and he's certain that the young man, who has been arrested for the crime, is innocent. He's equally certain that another popular sentiment in the village is also not true, that a purported witch living nearby struck her down using herbal magic.

Wife of the Gods is written with a quiet elegance, often lyrical in its narrative. Sound actually plays an important part of the story, Dawson having a particular affinity for distinguishing subtle variations in speech patterns. Consider this passage from early in the book:

Darko felt the silken quality and the musical lilt of Auntie's voice. He had always had a peculiarly heightened sensitivity to speech. Not only did he hear it but he often perceived it, as though physically touching it. He had on occasion told [his brother] Cairo or Mama that he could feel "bumps" in a person's voice, or that it was prickly or wet. They were mystified by this, but Darko could not explain it any better than he could describe the process of sight or smell.

The mystery itself is rather intricate, made so in part by the customs and beliefs of the villagers. The author incorporates these cultural references into the story in a seamless, natural manner; they are a part of Dawson's investigation without necessarily being the cause of it. Furthermore, their very being is not a hinderance and Dawson's knowledge of them may help him find the solution to the young woman's murder.

There are a number of familiar elements to the story including the wise mentor to Dawson. At one point he says to Darko, "You remember what I told you about solving mysteries?", to which Dawson replies, "That it's a matter of making a few of the connections and the rest will fall in place." And that is really what Wife of the Gods is all about.

An outstanding effort overall to be sure, but there are a couple of minor points that may resonate with readers. Darko Dawson is given to occasional, violent outbursts which seem at odds to the intellectual character that he seems most comfortable being. These scenes don't really add much depth or interest to his character, and seem discordant in a somewhat disturbing way. And the investigation seems to conveniently ignore a person's cell phone, and not the throwaway kind, that is the preferred way of communicating within the country -- not surprising given the lack of infrastructure for wired service. Yet no one thinks to check cell phone records to determine where people (read suspects) might have been at any given time. Finally, the title, which rates a special author note, is not terribly relevant to the crime or its solution, and serves more as an introduction to a tangential subplot. These comments, however, are at most quibbles for this truly remarkable mystery that unfolds in a most unusual setting.

Special thanks to Random House for providing an ARC of Wife of the Gods for this review.

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

If you are interested in purchasing Wife of the Gods from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right. Wife of the Gods (Kindle edition) is also available. Learn more about the Kindle, Amazon's Wireless Reading Device.

Synopsis (from the publisher): In a shady grove outside the small town of Ketanu, a young woman—a promising med student—has been found dead under suspicious circumstances. Eager to close the case, the local police have arrested a poor, enamored teenage boy and charged him with murder. Needless to say, they are less than thrilled when an outside force arrives from the big city to lead an inquiry into the baffling case.

Detective Inspector Darko Dawson, fluent in Ketanu’s indigenous language, is the right man for the job, but he hates the idea of leaving his loving wife and young son, a plucky kid with a defective heart. Pressured by his cantankerous boss, Dawson agrees to travel to Ketanu, sort through the evidence, and tie up the loose ends as quickly and as efficiently as possible. But for Dawson, this sleepy corner of Ghana is rife with emotional land mines: an estranged relationship with the family he left behind twenty-five years earlier and the painful memory of his own mother’s sudden, inexplicable disappearance. Dawson is armed with remarkable insight and a healthy dose of skepticism, but these gifts, sometimes overshadowed by his mercurial temper, may not be enough to solve this haunting mystery. In Ketanu, he finds that his cosmopolitan sensibilities clash with age-old customs, including a disturbing practice in which teenage girls are offered by their families to fetish priests as trokosi, or Wives of the Gods.

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Mystery Book Review: Chosen to Die by Lisa Jackson

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Chosen to Die by Lisa Jackson. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Chosen to Die by Lisa Jackson
A Regan Pescoli and Selena Alvarez Mystery

Zebra (Mass Market Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-4201-0277-X (142010277X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4201-0277-2 (9781420102772)
Publication Date: July 2009
List Price: $7.99

Review: Montana detectives Regan Pescoli and Selena Alvarez search for a serial killer during the worst winter blizzard Pinewood County has experienced in years in Chosen To Die, the second thriller in this series by Lisa Jackson.

A web has been skillfully woven by a serial killer in the old silver mining town of Grizzly Falls. The killer chooses a woman as his target using their initials as a guide. The woman is always alone in her car. Most of the time he shoots out a tire causing the woman to drive off the road. He then drives by, stops, and offers his assistance. Unfortunately, the car has broken down in an area when there is no cell phone access. He takes her to his nearby home until someone can be notified to come and repair or tow the automobile. When he decides his captive should die, he takes her nude body to the forest in the Bitterroot Mountains, gags her, ties her to the tree, attaches a note with the woman’s initials above her head, and leaves her there. For Regan and Selena the case has more questions than answers. How does he know a woman with just the initials he needs will be on that particular stretch of the road at that particular time? What do the initials stand for? Is this some kind of a clue? When Regan herself comes up missing, Selena fears that she has become one of his victims, especially when her car is later found off the road, down in a gulley, and a hole blown in her tire.

But their case is about to get even more complicated. A wealthy man arrives unexpectedly to his winter home in the area and this same killer murders him with a single shotgun shot to the chest. How can the Sheriff’s Department reconcile the womens’ murders with this new case – other than the bullet that killed the man came from the same shotgun that blew out the women’s tires.

Chosen To Die is a thrilling mystery, the isolated setting adding to the suspense generated by the plot. The reason for the killer taking Regan also contributes to the puzzle: his previous victims had been trusting, relatively helpless women. Why choose Regan, a detective who would almost certainly fight back with everything she had? The only serious flaw in the book is with its length; Regan and Selena are compelling, well drawn characters that are interesting to follow. But there are other characters and side stories that add little to the plot and ultimately detract from the suspense of the detectives' investigation. It would seem these could easily have been edited out, allowing for better continuity and tighter pacing.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Chosen to Die and to Joan Schulhafer Publishing and Media Consulting 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 Chosen to Die from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): He'll Choose Them … Detective Regan Pescoli has worked the “Star Crossed Killer” case for months, never imagining she’d be captured by the madman she’s been hunting. Regan knows exactly what he’s capable of—the way he leaves his victims to freeze to death, terrified and alone. And avoiding the same fate will take every drop of her courage and cunning.

Abduct Them … Regan Pescoli is unlike any woman Nate Santana has met before. But now she’s missing, and Nate knows something is dangerously wrong. The only person who can help him find his lover is Detective Selena Alvarez, Regan’s partner. As Selena digs deeper into the Star-Crossed Killer case and the body count rises, the truth about Regan’s disappearance becomes chillingly clear.

And Kill Them … In the desolate Montana woods, evil is lurking. And with time running out, the only way to save Regan will be to get inside a killer’s twisted mind and unravel a shocking message that is being revealed, one body at a time …

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Her Interactive Announces Nancy Drew in Warnings at Waverly Academy, its 21st Adventure Game

Her Interactive yesterday announced the title of the 21st game in the popular Nancy Drew Adventure series of mystery games for the PC: Nancy Drew: Warnings at Waverly Academy.

In the game, players take on the role of Nancy Drew as she heads undercover at a prestigious all-girls boarding school to discover the culprit behind threatening notes and dangerous accidents that seem to be targeted towards the academy’s valedictorian candidates.

To fit in at the school, players will immerse themselves in the boarding school culture by exploring the campus, helping other girls with projects and navigating the social scene. To build the case, players will surreptitiously snoop through dorm rooms and snap cell phone pictures of evidence they come across. A handy, adjustable skill feature lets players choose to play as a Junior or Senior Detective depending on their mystery-solving abilities.

Nancy Drew: Warnings at Waverly Academy will be available this October.

All previous games in the series are available on our website Games of Mystery: Nancy Drew. And don't miss the new Nancy Drew Dossier series of casual games as well games for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii. Strategy guides for many of the games are also available.

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Mystery Bestsellers for July 31, 2009

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending July 31, 2009 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

Quite a bit of shuffiling on the list this week, though Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich remains at the top for the fourth consecutive week.

New at number 9 is The Girl Who Played With Fire, the second thriller in the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson. Mikael Blomkvist, crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government. But he has no idea just how explosive the story will be until, on the eve of publication, the two investigating reporters are murdered. And even more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander—the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker who came to his aid in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and who now becomes the focus and fierce heart of The Girl Who Played with Fire. As Blomkvist, alone in his belief in Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation of the slayings, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous hunt in which she is the prey, and which compels her to revisit her dark past in an effort to settle with it once and for all.

Published two weeks ago and missing the top 15 last week but moving up to number 11 this week is Fire and Ice, the second mystery by J. A. Jance to feature two of her long-running series characters: J. P. Beaumont and Joanna Brady. Seattle investigator J. P. Beaumont is working a series of murders in which six young women have been wrapped in tarps, doused with gasoline, and set on fire. Their charred remains have been scattered around various dump sites, creating a grisly pattern of death across western Washington. At the same time, thousands of miles away in the Arizona desert, Cochise County sheriff Joanna Brady is looking into a homicide in which the elderly caretaker of an ATV park was run over and left to die. All the man has left behind is his dog, who is the improbable witness to some kind of turf warfare—or possibly something more sinister. Then a breakthrough in Beaumont's case leads him directly to the Southwest and into Brady's jurisdiction. When the two met on a joint investigation years earlier, sparks flew. Under different circumstances, both of them admit, even more could have happened. But here, as the threads of their two seemingly separate cases wind together, Beaumont and Brady must put aside echoes of their shared past as they are once again drawn into an orbit of deception. Except this time it's not just their own lives that are in danger but those of the people closest to them as well.

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

The top four mystery bestsellers this week are 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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Crippen and Landru Announce Two New Mystery Short Story Collections

Crippen & Landru are specialty publishers of mystery short story collections. We are enthusiastic fans of their books, and have been a customer for many years.

We're pleased to provide information on two new collections from the publisher. Links in this post are for the trade paperback editions; hardcover editions, or limited edition signed copies, may be available directly from Crippen and Landru.

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The Casebook of Gregory Hood by Anthony Boucher and Denis Green, edited by Joe R. Christopher

In 1946, Anthony Boucher (1911-1968) and Denis Green (1905-1954) created one of the finest detective dramas ever to be broadcast during radio’s Golden Age. The Casebook of Gregory Hood features a wealthy San Francisco importer and man-about-town who is drawn into mysterious cases as an amateur sleuth. Each of the cases, whether involving a beeswax candle, or a red capsule, or a sad clown, or en elusive violin, is meticulously plotted so that the listener can, if he or she is clever enough, deduce the solution.

For many years, The Casebook of Gregory Hood was only a fond memory of radio and detection fans, but now Crippen & Landru is proud to present 14 complete (and never-before published) scripts, along with an informative introduction by the editor, Joe R. Christopher.

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A Pocketful of Noses: Stories of One Ganelon or Another by James Powell

Join four generations of Ambrose Ganelon as they protect the colorful European principality of San Sebastiano from the intrigues of Ludwig Wong and his infamous descendants. Ambrose Ganelon I, working in the mid-19th century and using classic armchair-detective skills, must use his powers of perception to puzzle out such mysteries as the “Flower Diet,” whose acolytes claim to gain sustenance only through the aroma of flowers. The second Ganelon, preferring scientific reasoning, finds himself embroiled in the international intrigue of Europe at the dawn of World War I especially when he must discover who murdered a Serbian national, and why he was holding seven artificial noses. The hardboiled third generation of Ganelons, Ambrose Ganelon III, is at the center of mystery when he discovers he’s the target of a murder plot. And the near penniless Ambrose Ganelon IV still manages to find intrigue and mystery, even though his predecessors have all but eliminated crime from his homeland.

Combining wit with solid mysteries, A Pocket Full of Noses will keep you guessing. Included are 12 stories, as well as an introduction by author James Powell, and a checklist of the author’s mystery fiction.

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