eHarlequin Silhouette Romantic Suspense Titles for January 2010

Sparked by danger, fueled by passion, eHarlequin.com has released the January 2010 titles in their Silhouette Romantic Suspense series. Let yourself be swept away with characters who fall in love under larger-than-life circumstances. In Silhouette Romantic Suspense, suspense, emotion and glamour combine to create these highly charged books! For more information or to purchase any of the books below, click on the book title or book cover. (Previous months titles can be found on the backlist page.)

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Criminal Deception by Marilyn Pappano

This is far from over.

After being the target of a Mob hit intended for his twin brother, Joe Saldana had settled in to his trauma-free life in Copper Lake. But when his brother's girlfriend, Liz Dalton, entered the coffee shop looking for his twin, Joe found his new life suddenly unraveling. The threat still existed—and so did the white-hot attraction between Joe and Liz.

A U.S. Marshal, Liz had taken precautions to ensure her pretend boyfriend's safety. Now that he had escaped protective custody, she had to find him and bring him in to testify. She didn't count on needing Joe's help, on deceiving him yet again. She could only count on wanting him despite all the reasons she shouldn't…

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The Agent's Proposal by Lyn Stone

Her cover: sexy heiress on a French Riviera spree. Her mission: find the terrorist hacker threatening to shut down America's power grid. And SEXTANT agent Tess Bradshaw plans to play this first assignment strictly by the book. But to successfully stay under cover, she needs ex-CIA agent Cameron Cochran's wild-card expertise in breaking all the rules.

Cameron has taken this case strictly to clear his name. Helping this innocent newbie strip down to her secrets to play bad-girl bait is a nice but distracting bonus. With the clock ticking and lethal mercenaries closing in, surrendering to each other might be their only chance…

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The Private Bodyguard by Debra Cowan

Won't marriage interfere with your being dead?

Dr. Meredith Boren goes to her lake house to box up her past—a past that included her dead ex-fiancé, Gage Parrish. But in the middle of the night she finds the handsome fire investigator, very much alive, wounded and bleeding at her kitchen sink.

Now as they search for a vengeful arsonist, Gage risks his life again to protect the woman he still loves. And although Meredith is tempted to give herself over, body and soul, it'll take more than Gage returning from the dead for her to trust him again…

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A Doctor's Watch by Vickie Taylor

A year after the death of her husband, single mother Mia Serrat finally got herself back on track…when a mysterious accident left her fearing for her life—and her heart. Mia knew that Ty Hansen, the hotshot psychiatrist assigned to her case, was the last man she should be falling for. Yet their professional relationship quickly became personal. Very personal. Their forbidden romance screeched to a halt when Mia's son went missing and she was named as the prime suspect. Could she convince Ty of both her sanity and her innocence before it was too late?

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Keep up to date by subscribing to eHarlequin.com's free newsletter that contains the latest information about their series of books as well as informing you about subscriber-only special offers and new products. Click on the banner below to subscribe for free:

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Games of Mystery: Samantha Swift and the Mystery of Atlantis, New at Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends 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.

More twists than ever before as archaeologist-adventurer Samantha Swift races across the globe visiting the lost tribes of Atlantis in a daring search for the missing pieces to an Atlantean treasure. Each tribe hold a piece of an ancient artifact that tunes into the Senses, and it's up to Sam to recover them before the relic is used for evil. Dire consequences for humanity are at stake from a calculating new villain who crosses her path at every turn.

Players can delve into more than 40 hidden-object adventure levels with clever puzzles to solve all along the way. For the first time, players can customize their adventure. Choose a relaxed experience with a robust hint system, or a timed challenge with scoring. Repeat the fun in either mode and unlock the special hidden object mode for those times when you just want to seek and find.

See also the first two games in the series, Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena and Samantha Swift and the Golden Touch.

Also available: Samantha Swift and the Mystery from Atlantis Strategy Guide and Samantha Swift and the Mystery from Atlantis Game Walkthrough.

Samantha Swift and the Mystery from Atlantis may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (163.24 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.

Watch a preview video below:

Get any game for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. Other benefits include the $2.99 Daily Deal, Tomorrow's Game Today, and special member rewards. And if you purchase any 6 games within a single month, you earn a free game with the Big Fish Game Club Monthly Punch Card!

Read our new game reviews by Ms. Terri: Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy (Review), 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 Book Review: Stuff to Spy For by Don Bruns

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

Stuff to Spy For by Don Bruns
A James Lessor and Skip Moore Mystery

Oceanview Publishing (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-933515-22-8 (1933515228)
ISBN-13: 978-1-933515-22-9 (9781933515229)
Publication Date: November 2009
List Price: $24.95

Review: Underachieving best friends James Lessor and Skip Moore land a job installing a security system at a local government contractor but soon discover the secrets they're protecting may be of a more personal -- and dangerous -- nature in Stuff to Spy For, the third mystery in this series by Don Bruns.

The referral on the sale and installation of the expensive equipment (with its high commission for Skip) comes with a caveat: he must pretend to be the boyfriend of his contact at the company ... who just happens to be an old high school flame ... who just happens to be dating the company's CEO ... who just happens to be married to the owner's daughter. Emily, Skip's current girlfriend, isn't all that thrilled with arrangement but goes along anyway. All seems to be proceeding well when the CEO's wife contacts Skip and hires him to get the dirt on her husband's "extracurricular" activities. Conveniently ignoring the conflict of interest this represents, he sees a fat bonus, but James sees an opportunity to jump into a new business: spying on people, with all the cool gadgets that are required to do the job right. The spying part comes easy to them; it's what they learn that may cost them their lives.

The mysteries in this series are clearly influenced by the Hardy Boys books. Though written for an older reader, they tend to remain true to the overall concept of two eager, slightly bumbling, but always sincere buddies out on an adventure. But where the Hardy Boys are typically quick to spring into action once a mystery is presented to them, James and Skip are positively sluggish in getting started here. Part of the problem is the pacing of the story, which really doesn't pick up any speed until page 118 when James declares, "We're officially spies", and even then what follows is measured at best. The spy elements add a bit of sparkle to the plot, but not enough to make the story shine. Situations in which James and Skip find themselves that are clearly intended to be humorous, including the whole "ex-girlfriend call girl pretending to date Skip while dating her boss who's married to the company owner's daughter" premise, tend to fall a bit flat, and at times seem forced, not a natural consequence of anything that preceded them.

Stuff to Spy For might have been better had it taken a more Hardy Boys-style dramatic approach to the narrative, rather than trying to artificially craft light, comedic circumstances (a la Lucy and Ethel) for James and Skip to perform in. In the end it's a bit disappointing, especially since the previous books in the series adopted a straight-forward approach to the amateur sleuthing activities of the two principal characters ... and ended up with better results.

Special thanks to Oceanview Publishing for providing a copy of Stuff to Spy For for this review.

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

If you are interested in purchasing Stuff to Spy For from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Best friends James Lessor and Skip Moore are still stuck in dead-end jobs, still living in their ratty apartment in Carol City, Florida, and still dreaming of hitting the big time. It seems those dreams are finally within reach when James lands a job to install a state-of-the-art security system for Synco Systems. There's a huge commission -- and plenty of strings -- attached. To collect on the cash, James will have to provide "additional services" by assuming the role of pretend boyfriend of Sarah Crumbly, an employee who's having an affair with Sandler Conroy, Synco's married president. When Sandler's wife offers James a tidy sum for the dirty details about what's going on at Synco, James and Skip resurrect their entrepreneurial dreams and go into the business of being spies. The spymobile -- their beloved, rattletrap of a boxtruck -- is on its last legs, and they'll have to spend a small fortune on spy equipment, but there's no business like spy business. In this spy game, James and Skip may be the ones who get played -- or worse.

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New Titles from Crippen & Landru, Publishers of Mystery Short Story Collections

Crippen & Landru recently e-mailed us announcing the publication of two long-anticipated books.

The first is A Tale About a Tiger and Other Mysterious Events by S. J. Rozan. S. J. Rozan is the multi-award winning master of private eye mysteries, most coming from the streets of New York. Included in A Tale About a Tiger are some of her best stories, many centering around the cases of Lydia Chin. Whether going undercover to find a videotape which would prove the guilt of an acquitted murders, uncovering the truth about a subway rape, or helping a smuggler of Asian artifacts, Chin is not afraid to dig deep into New York’s underbelly in pursuit of justice. Also included is the acclaimed short story "Hoops," in which an apparent murder-suicide of a local high school basketball star and his girlfriend leaves more to be uncovered.

Rozan has won the Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, Nero, and Macavity awards for Best Novel and the Edgar for Best Short Story, and she is a former President of the Private Eye Writers of America and member of the national boards of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. The book includes a complete checklist of all her mystery writings.

A Tale About a Tiger is available in two formats: a trade paperback and a limited edition (225 signed, numbered copies) hardcover.

The second title is The Murder at the Stork Club and Other Mysteries by Vera Caspary. Vera Caspary (1889-1987), playwright and novelist, is best remembered for the novel which led to the great Otto Preminger movie, Laura, but she also wrote novellas and novelettes which combined mystery and suspense with an awareness of gender and class issues. Working-class sleuths in high-class settings (like New York’s famed Stork Club), sexual and work-place tension, Nazi spies during the Second World War, complex characters – all these elements were combined in Caspary’s writing with an impeccable smoothness in plotting. In one story, she even has a gathering of suspects at the denouement in the tradition of Agatha Christie.

The Murder in the Stork Club and Other Mysteries is edited by Caspary-expert A. B. Emrys. It is the 29th in Crippen & Landru’s “Lost Classics” series – never previously collected stories by great writers of traditional mysteries, and is available in two formats: hardcover and trade paperback.

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Harlequin Intrigue Titles for January 2010

eHarlequin.com has released the January 2010 titles in their Intrigue, breathtaking romantic suspense series. Get these edge-of-your-seat reads today with characters who conquer everything from kidnappings to murder mysteries, only to find themselves irresistibly drawn to one another! For more information or to purchase any of the books below, click on the book title or book cover. (Previous months titles can be found on the backlist page.)

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The Shadow by Aimee Thurlo

There was no room for emotion on a mission.

Jonas Slowman knew that better than anyone. He'd left the Navajo Nation to fight overseas as a top-level ranger in the military. His devotion to his heritage brought him back to the reservation, back to the Brotherhood. But they handed him his toughest mission yet.

"Protect her at all costs," was the order from the tribe. That Jonas would do with his life. Except his attraction to Emily Atkins was a liability. She'd grown into a confident woman who now found herself the target of an implacable enemy, someone who was using her to get to the Navajo.

Jonas was good at what he did, but he'd need his sharpest edge against a formidable foe. Because he couldn't risk the consequences to the sacred Brotherhood…or to the woman who'd stealthily claimed his heart.

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Case File: Canyon Creek, Wyoming by Paula Graves

1st suspense novel in the Cooper Justice series.

What was supposed to be a quiet vacation in scenic Wyoming turned deadly when Hannah Cooper became the target of a serial killer. Although she survived the attack, the ordeal was far from over. But she wasn't alone. Not when Riley Patterson appointed himself her protector.

Beneath Riley's strapping, solemn exterior hid a hard-driving sheriff who would stop at nothing to catch a killer. He promised Hannah safety, but it was the danger he posed that drew her in. Riley was as much a mystery as the man who sought to take her life. Trapped on his ranch, with no one but each other to trust, only justice could set them free … and possibly separate them forever.

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The Sheriff of Silverhill by Carol Ericson

The safety of Silverhill rested on Rafe McClintock's broad shoulders. Good-natured but hard-nosed, the sheriff kept the peace in Colorado with a shotgun and a smile. At least until Dana Croft crossed into his jurisdiction. She was here on FBI duty—a dead body on the rez—but after all these years Rafe could still put a hitch in her throat.

Though a star was pinned to the rangy cowboy's chest, he didn't have authority over her heart. As they hunted a killer together, across the reservation and into uncharted territory, Dana's secret threatened to explode at any moment. But before Rafe could wrap her in his protection, would their reunion be cut short?

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A Perfect Stranger by Jenna Ryan

P.I. Damon Marlowe always found his man—or, in this case, his woman. Tracking down Darcy Nolan at his client's request was a piece of cake for the ex-cop. But there was something about this assignment that didn't sit right with him. When the attractive blonde was attacked, put into danger by his unwitting exposure, Marlowe told himself he had no choice but to flush out her would-be killer. After all, he had compromised the cover of a protected witness to a crime.

But was it the guilt that drove him…or a deeper emotion he'd long since buried? Try as he might, Darcy roused feelings he'd rather deny. But for Marlowe, the motive didn't matter. The killer was making his move, and now Darcy was his to protect …

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Classified Cowboy by Mallory Kane

3rd suspense novel in the Silver Star of Texas series.

Texas Ranger Lieutenant Wyatt Colter will never forgive himself for allowing a witness to go missing on his watch … even if he did take a bullet as a result. Now forensic anthropologist Nina Jacobsen has unearthed human remains that might explain the mystery, and Wyatt finally sees his chance to solve a cold case that has haunted him for two long years. He knows Nina has her doubts about his ability to remain objective, but then someone tries to bury Nina with the evidence and, trust him or not, Wyatt appoints himself her own personal watchdog. And this time, this cowboy will get his man—and his woman.

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The Socialite and the Bodyguard by Dana Marton

Bodyguard to a dog? Former commando Nash Wilder can't believe he took this assignment, watching over the prized poodle of some spoiled heiress. But with his history, the burly ex-soldier can't turn down a job—and the task of protecting pretty Kayla Landon and her pedigreed pooch was a direct command. But when the threats escalate, and the danger shifts from puppy to owner, Nash's years of combat training kick in. Before long, the rugged bodyguard comes to recognize that the undeniably attractive Kayla has her own kind of strength—and that, to save her, he must risk everything.

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If you enjoy the romantic suspense books in this series, you can get 2 free Harlequin Intrigue books plus 2 free gifts just for giving the automatic program a try. Accepting your two free Intrigue books and mystery gifts places you under no obligation to buy anything. You may keep the books and gifts and return the shipping statement marked cancel. If you do not cancel, about two months later, and then every other month, eHarlequin will send you four additional Intrigue books.

Keep up to date by subscribing to eHarlequin.com's free newsletter that contains the latest information about their series of books as well as informing you about subscriber-only special offers and new products. Click on the banner below to subscribe for free:

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Join Us in Following the Second Annual Author Holiday Blog on BookReporter.com

BookReporter.com's Second Annual Author Holiday Blog feature is underway, and we hope you'll join us in following the posts by authors sharing stories about gift giving and getting, holiday traditions and memories, and more.

Pieces from such authors as Stephen Coonts, Hallie Ephron, Robert Goolrick, Wade Rouse, Mahbod Seraji and Donna VanLiere have already been posted. The upcoming lineup will include guest blogs from Sandra Brown, Sandra Dallas, Barbara Delinsky, Jamie Ford, Kristin Hannah, Marcia Muller and Lisa Scottoline -- plus many others.

This special holiday blog will be updated on the BookReporter.com site through Christmas Day.

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Games of Mystery: Women's Murder Club in Twice in a Blue Moon, New at Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends 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.

Marking the third game in the franchise, Twice in a Blue Moon is an original story based on James Patterson's successful Women's Murder Club series of mystery novels.

On a violent night in the murky streets of San Francisco, a cryptic message becomes key to unraveling a gruesome investigation. Players assume the roles of Lindsay Boxer, Claire Washburn and Cindy Thomas as they combine their expertise and talents to unravel a murderer’s tribute to the past by uncovering clues, gathering facts and revealing his identity before it’s too late.

In the most authentic James Patterson experience to date, players will be left trembling as they search for clues and solve mysteries in more than 50 levels, including 25 chilling locations, 27 challenging puzzles and nine unsettling investigations.

See also the first two games in the series, Women's Murder Club: Death in Scarlet and Women's Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey.

Also available: Women's Murder Club: Twice in a Blue Moon Game Walkthrough.

James Patterson's Women's Murder Club: Twice in a Blue Moon may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (87.12 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.

Watch a preview video below:

Get any game for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. Other benefits include the $2.99 Daily Deal, Tomorrow's Game Today, and special member rewards. And if you purchase any 6 games within a single month, you earn a free game with the Big Fish Game Club Monthly Punch Card!

Read our new game reviews by Ms. Terri: Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy (Review), 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 Godoku Puzzle for December 14, 2009

A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle has been created by the editors of the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and is now available on our website.

Godoku is similar to Sudoku, but uses letters instead of numbers. To give you a headstart, we provide you a mystery clue to fill in a complete row or column (if you choose to use it!).

This week's letters and mystery clue:

A B E G I K P U W

Mark Coggins’ fifth August Riordan mystery has this title (with “The”, 9 letters).

We now have two weeks of our puzzles on one page in PDF format for easier printing. Print this week's puzzle here.

Previous puzzles are stored in the Mystery Godoku Archives.

Enjoy the weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle from the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, and Thanks for visiting our website!

   

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Mystery Book Review: Final Approach by Rachel Brady

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

Final Approach by Rachel Brady
Non-series

Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-655-7 (1590586557)
ISBN-13: 987-1-59058-655-6 (9871590586556)
Publication Date: October 2009
List Price: $24.95

Review: Rachel Brady introduces Emily Locke, an experienced sky diver still mourning the loss of her husband and infant daughter in a boating accident four years ago, whose help is requested by a most unlikely source, in Final Approach, the author's debut mystery.

Richard Cole was the police officer in charge of investigating, and mishandling, the accident that killed Emily's family. Forced to leave the police department, he's now a private investigator looking into the disappearance of a child in Texas, far from Emily's home in Ohio. His only lead is the Gulf Coast Skydiving School. Richard knows of only one person who may help him gather information, but Emily is loathe to assist him. Still, she can't bear the thought that another mother might lose a daughter because of her unwillingness to help. She travels to Texas and joins the school as an instructor. Not skilled in the more subtle aspects of investigative stealth, she's quickly caught looking through the school's financial records, but not before learning that there are numerous entries of income that don't seem directly related to the business. Though the owners are now suspicious of her, she's allowed to stay on, later overhearing talk of trafficking in children. Unsure of how to proceed, and lacking concrete evidence to back up her story, she and Richard work together to determine who is in charge of this child kidnapping ring, and how they can shut it down.

The plot of Final Approach is somewhat implausible and at times doesn't seem fully developed, but the entertaining and well-drawn characters, especially those of the sky diving school, tend to compensate. That one of them is a cold-blooded villain is not unexpected, but it's hard to pick out which of the group it is. Overall, though Final Approach is a fast reading book, interesting and quirky in its own way, it is not especially memorable.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Final Approach 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 Final Approach from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Sometimes clues just fall from the sky. Four years ago Emily Locke's life was shattered when her infant daughter and husband were lost in an inexplicable accident. She has nearly rebuilt her fragile mental health when Richard Cole, a disgraced former police detective now working as a PI, resurfaces. He wants help he says only she can provide—reconnaissance at a Texas skydiving establishment over a thousand miles away. Emily knows better than to work with him again, but can't refuse when she learns it's about a missing boy. She identifies too greatly with the new missing child case.

At Gulf Coast Skydiving, similarities between this new case and Emily's troubled past make it increasingly difficult for her to stay objective. Soon she's convinced that she is somehow connected to whoever took little Casey Lyons. Someone at the quiet, rural airstrip knows what happened to the boy ... and to Emily's own daughter.

To find Casey before it's too late, Emily will have to make sense of the menacing parallels between his case and her daughter's.

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