Doc Savage to Return to Big Screen

Variety is reporting that Columbia Pictures is bringing Doc Savage -- explorer, scientist, physician, inventor, and, oh yes, crime fighter -- back to the big screen. Shane Black (The Long Kiss Goodbye, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Lethal Weapon) is to direct an original screenplay he is writing with Anthony Bagarozzi and Chuck Mondry.

Doc Savage was one of the most popular pulp fiction characters from the 1930s and 1940s, heard on radio and seen in film and on early television. A History of the Doc Savage Adventures provides a good retrospective of the character. DC Comics has also recently begun reissuing many of the early adventures in new collected editions.

About A History of the Doc Savage Adventures (from the publisher): Doc Savage is not only the prototype of the modern fictional superhero; he was also a seminal force in creating multimedia crossovers. The character exploded onto the scene in 1933, with the Great Depression and the gathering clouds of war as a cultural backdrop. The series is examined in relation to historic events and changing audience tastes, with special attention on the horror and science-fiction elements. The artwork features illustrations, covers, and original art. Appendices cover Doc Savage paperbacks, pulp magazines, comic books, and fanzines, and a biographical appendix covers all major contributors to the series.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Book Review: Treasure Hunt by John Lescroart

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

Treasure Hunt by John Lescroart
A Wyatt Hunt Mystery

Dutton (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-525-95144-X (052595144X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-525-95144-5 (9780525951445)
Publication Date: January 2010
List Price: $26.95

Review: Wyatt Hunt's private investigations firm known as "The Hunt Club" is in dire financial straits, within a month or so of shutting its doors, when all-around go-fer Mickey Dade comes up with a potential solution to their problem in Treasure Hunt, the second mystery in this series by John Lescroart.

Mickey happens to be in the right place at the right time when the body of community activist Dominic Como is found in a lagoon near the Palace of Fine Arts. His interview on television is seen by Ian Thorpe, a fellow student who, like Mickey, spends his Saturdays attending culinary school. Ian tells Mickey he's in need of a private investigator; his sister was dating Dominic Como and may be a person of interest by the police. Ian suggests that maybe The Hunt Club can assist his sister in proving her innocence. Of course, Ian has no money, but Mickey seizes on the idea of asking the high profile charitable organizations, in which Como was a prominent member, to offer a reward for information leading to the arrest of Como's killer, and hire The Hunt Club to manage the process. All it would take is for Wyatt to use his not inconsiderable charm to set it all up.

And set it up he does. The Hunt Club is back in business, but it isn't long before there's another murder and Wyatt and his team find themselves at odds with the police over suspects and motives ... and the identity of who killed Dominic Como.

Treasure Hunt is a highly entertaining novel. There is a measure of reading comfort -- satisfaction, maybe -- that comes from a narrative that flows confidently and effortlessly. The murder mystery plot is straight-forward, not necessarily clever but not overly simplistic either, and the gathering of the suspects in the end -- seated on Wyatt's private basketball half-court, no less -- is more charming than contrived.

Finally, Wyatt Hunt may be the star of the show here, but his associate Mickey Dade often gets the best lines in Treasure Hunt. He opens the book (The day he found the body, Mickey Dade woke up under a tree on Mount Tamalpais.) and he closes it (She took another breath. "But unless you tell me not to, I'm going to kiss you." He beat her to it.), and all the while in-between it's a real pleasure getting to know him as a character. He's one of the elements that surely makes the book an impressive stand-out.

Special thanks to Penguin Group for providing a copy of Treasure Hunt for this review.

Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

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

Synopsis (from the publisher): Mickey Dade hates deskwork, but that's all he's been doing at Wyatt Hunt's private investigative service, The Hunt Club. His itch to be active is answered when a body is discovered: It's Dominic Como, one of San Francisco's most high-profile activists-a charismatic man known as much for his expensive suits as his work on a half dozen nonprofit boards. One "person of interest" in the case is Como's business associate, Alicia Thorpe-young, gorgeous, and the sister of one of Mickey's friends.

As Mickey and Hunt are pulled into the case, they soon learn that the city's golden fundraiser was involved in some highly suspect deals. And the lovely Alicia knows more about this -- and more about Como -- than she's letting on.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Book Review: The Serpent Pool by Martin Edwards

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

The Serpent Pool by Martin Edwards
A Lake District Mystery

Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-593-3 (1590585933)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-593-1 (9781590585931)
Publication Date: February 2010
List Price: $24.95

Review: DCI Hannah Scarlett and her former boss Daniel Kind must work together when a cold case intersects with a current one in The Serpent Pool, the fourth Lake District mystery by Martin Edwards.

Aspiring writer Bethany Friend drowned in Serpent Pool six years ago. The cause of death was never explained, accidental or intentional, with the coroner recording it as an "open verdict". As head of the Cold Case Review Team, Hannah wants to reopen the case. But before she can do so, George Saffell, a rare book collector dies in a blazing fire on his boat where he shelved his extensive collection of first editions. Was it suicide ... or murder?

Hannah is currently living with Marc Amos, a seller of rare books, who had sold many editions to the dead man and his business partner, Stuart Wagg. Complicating matters just a bit is that Stuart is living with Daniel Kind's sister, who claims the partners had recently been arguing. Daniel calls on Hannah to help find Stuart, who has inexplicably gone missing. Also in this tangled weave of characters is Hannah's new sergeant, Greg Wharf, who is spending a lot of time with her on casework causing Marc to turn to his assistant, Cassie, for comfort and understanding.

The Serpent Pool is a superb mystery, from both a plot, replete with classical literary references, and stylistic perspective. The characters are delightful and well drawn, the Lake District setting beautiful and charming. Even the various romantic elements, including those simmering just beneath the surface, play an important role here. As dark and disturbing secrets come to light, answers to questions of murder or suicide, past and present, are finally established in the thrilling conclusion to this exciting suspense novel.

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

Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

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

Synopsis (from the publisher): DCI Hannah Scarlett is determined to uncover the truth behind Bethany Friend’s mysterious drowning in the Serpent Pool. But Hannah’s distracted by a new sergeant with a troublesome reputation, a new house, and new cause to doubt her partner--second hand bookseller Marc Amos. One of Marc’s best customers has been burned to death in the converted boathouse filled with priceless books. Then Hannah meets Louise Kind, sister of the historian Daniel Kind, who has just returned from America to work on a book about Thomas De Quincey and the history of murder. How are all of these elements related?

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Nominations for 2009 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Announced

The Los Angeles Times has announced the nominees for the 2009 Book Prizes, which recognize outstanding literary achievement in a number of categories, including Mystery/Thriller. The winners will be announced in a ceremony on April 23rd, 2010.

2009 Mystery / Thriller Nominees:

◊ Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
◊ The Hidden Man by David Ellis (Putnam)
◊ Black Water Rising by Attica Locke (Harper)
◊ A Darker Domain by Val McDermid (Harper)
◊ The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville (Soho Crime)

indicates a review by Mysterious Reviews.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Book Review: Dying Gasp by Leighton Gage

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

Dying Gasp by Leighton Gage
A Chief Inspector Mario Silva Investigation

Soho Crime (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-56947-613-6 (1569476136)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-613-0 (9781569476130)
Publication Date: January 2010
List Price: $24.00

Review: Chief Inspector Mario Silva and his team take on the troubling case of finding the missing granddaughter of a prominent politician in Dying Gasp, the third mystery in this series by Leighton Gage.

15-year-old Marta Malan ran away from home two months earlier after being beaten by her father for dating an 18-year-old woman. Anxious to keep what he considers his family's indiscretions quiet, Deputado Roberto Malan, the girl's grandfather, insists Silva handle the case personally. Silva's investigation leads him to Manaus, the capital city of the state of Amazonas, governed by inept politicians and a corrupt police force. It is believed that Marta is being held by a man called The Goat, who runs the most extensive network of underage prostitutes in the region. But Silva also learns that Manaus may also be the home of a former nemesis of his, Claudia Andrade, a surgeon who disappeared after her illegal organ transplant ring was broken by Silva. That she may now be involved with a new, even more disturbing, criminal activity -- one that may have ensnared young Marta Malan -- troubles him greatly.

As the author notes in an afterward, Dying Gasp is a work of fiction based on some sad realities. It's sometimes difficult to get through some of the chapters, not because they aren't well written -- they most certainly are -- but because of how graphic they are. No punches are pulled in the description of some of the horrific crimes committed within the context of the story, yet their inclusion is not gratuitous in the least. The plot is well considered and paced, with a cast of interesting characters in an appropriately dank environment dripping with atmosphere. And while the overall style is one of a police procedural in which the reader is essentially omniscient, there are still a few surprising revelations. In all, Dying Gasp is a strong entry in this most sophisticated series of crime novels.

Special thanks to Soho Press for providing an ARC of Dying Gasp for this review.

Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

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

Synopsis (from the publisher): The granddaughter of a prominent politician is missing. Silva and his team find her in Manaus, a jungle hellhole on the Amazon where an evil female doctor is making gory snuff films. Silva must overcome his own department's indifference and the corrupt local cops before he can obtain a semblance of justice for the victims.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mysteries on TV: Adam-12, FlashForward, Midsomer Murders, and Taggart, New This Week on DVD

Mysteries on TV, your source for the most complete selection of detective, amateur sleuth, private investigator, and suspense television mystery series now available or coming soon to DVD, is profiling four series that have season DVDs being released this week.

— ◊ —

Police officers Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) and Jim Reed (Kent McCord) hit the mean streets of Los Angeles running into all sorts of crime ... from anti-Semitic criminals to assassins to hallucinating drunks ... in Adam-12, a crime drama that aired on NBC from 1968 through 1975, and a spin-off from the popular series Dragnet.

Guest stars this season include Willie Aames, Lindsay Wagner, Ed Begley Jr., Ozzie Nelson, Paul Gleason, William Campbell, George Murdock, Ronne Troup, Angela Cartwright, Kathy Garver, Bobby Troup, Larry Linville, Carmen Zapata, Jackie Coogan, Joe E. Tata, Frank Sinatra Jr., and Dick Clark.

Also notable about this 4th season is the addition of bestselling author and prolific television producer Stephen J. Cannell, who joined the series this season as head writer and story editor.

The Adam-12: Season Four DVD set of 4 discs contain the 24 episodes that aired from September 1971 through March 1972.

— ◊ —

Experience the nonstop action, excitement, and drama of the first ten episodes of the critically-acclaimed FlashForward, a series that debuted on ABC last fall.

Chaos reigns ater a mysterious event causes everyone in the world to lose consciousness at exactly the same time. Was it an act of nature or something far more sinister? During the global blackout, every man, woman and child was given a glimpse of his or her life six months in the future. One elite law enforcement team jumps into the investigation, attempting to solve the mystery, as the world's population wrestles with the choice of whether to embrace the fate they've seen or fight to change the future.

Relive every twist of the series, and prepare yourself for what's to come in the second half of Season One. Who is D. Gibbons? Who is the shadowy figure unaffected by the blackout? And what's next for your favorite characters as their day of reckoning approaches? Plus, dig even deeper with never before seen bonus features and an exclusive sneak peek at the next chapter, only available on DVD.

The FlashForward: Season One, Part One DVD set of 2 discs contain the first 10 episodes of the series that aired from September through November 2009.

— ◊ —

The cozy villages of Midsomer County reveal their most sinister secrets in the contemporary British television mystery series Midsomer Murders.

Based on characters created by Caroline Graham, modern master of the English village mystery, the series stars John Nettles as the unflappable Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby, with Jason Hughes as his earnest, efficient protégé, Detective Sergeant Ben Jones.

The Midsomer Murders: Set Fourteen DVD set of 4 discs contain following episodes of the series, which originally aired during late 2006 and early 2007: "Death and Dust" (The impending marriage of a widowed doctor and a well-to-do divorcée motivates a murder of mistaken identity); "Picture of Innocence" (In the midst of a “shooting war” between rival camera clubs, someone tries to frame Barnaby -- and definitely not for a portrait); "They Seek Him Here" (Heads roll, quite literally, when a movie crew begins filming an adventure classic set during the French Revolution); "Death in a Chocolate Box" (A long-buried scandal reemerges to haunt two of Barnaby’s former colleagues, now the managers of a halfway house). 

— ◊ —

Taggart is the world's longest continually running police drama.

A hard-driving series with a hard-edged Scottish burr, Taggart deals in a world of prostitutes, drug dealers, crime lords, and killers. In eight tightly crafted episodes, a team of Glasgow detectives use their collective wits and street smarts to tackle murder in this very tough town. Sometimes that means taking on hardened crime bosses, sometimes innocent victims with years to plot their revenge. Each time it means getting inside the mind of murderers -- how they think, how they act, how they kill.

The Taggart: Set Two DVD set of 4 discs contain eight episodes that originally aired in late 2003, during 2004, and early 2005.

(In a press release last week, ITV announced that 6 additional episodes of the series have been co-commissioned with STV. As part of this unique deal, STV will premiere each of the new episodes in 2010, followed by a UK network broadcast on ITV1 in 2011, with UKTV’s crime channel, Alibi airing them in 2013. Filming begins in Glasgow this April.)

— ◊ —

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

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for February 22, 2010

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 C E F I K R T U

This 2000 thriller by R. J. Kaiser features attorney Gabe Rose and his "crazy" client (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!

   

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Strand Magazine Announces Nominees for the 2009 Strand Critics Awards

Last Friday, the Strand Magazine announced the nominees for the 2009 Strand Critics Awards recognizing excellence in the field of mystery fiction. The winners will be announced at a cocktail party hosted by The Strand on July 7th, 2010, in New York City.

The Strand is also bestowing its Life Achievement Award to Elmore Leonard for his huge body of mystery and crime novels.

The nominees are ...

For Best Novel:
◊ Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
◊ The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston (Ballantine)
◊ Life Sentences by Laura Lippman (William Morrow)
◊ The Renegades by T. Jefferson Parker (Dutton)
◊ The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Riverhead)

For Best First Novel:

◊ Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell (Little, Brown)
◊ The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry (Penguin)
◊ A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (Algonquin)
◊ Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley (Touchstone)
◊ Black Water Rising by Attica Locke (Harper)

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Games of Mystery: Rhiannon, Curse of the Four Branches, New at Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed board, electronic and video games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery casual 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.

Set in a mystical place on the Celtic fringes of Britain, a place where myth and magic spill into reality, is a place that threatens the sanity of a teenage girl and brings an ancient battle for revenge to a remote Welsh farmstead. Are reports of unexplained noises and strange visions by fifteen year old Rhiannon Sullivan merely the figments of an overactive imagination? Or does the history of her family's new home, Ty Pryderi, hold a terrible connection to a timeless struggle between man and magic? Her parents take Rhiannon away, leaving Ty Pryderi to your watch and exploration, but their absence can only postpone an ancient inevitability of revenge and death.

Unless you can stop it!

The game is based on the classic Welsh "Four Branches" legends.

Also available: Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches Strategy Guide and a Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches Game Walkthrough.

Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (179.70 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.

Watch a preview video below:

Get any standard 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! (Collector's Editions earn 3 punches each, half-way towards your free game!)

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!

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Book Review: Death Without Tenure by Joanne Dobson

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Death Without Tenure by Joanne Dobson. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Death Without Tenure by Joanne Dobson
A Karen Pelletier Mystery

Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-585-2 (1590585852)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-585-6 (9781590585856)
Publication Date: January 2010
List Price: $24.95

Review: Karen Pelletier is up for tenure at Enfield College but believes another professor, the politically correct choice, will get the only slot ... that is, until he's murdered and she's the number one suspect in Death Without Tenure, the sixth mystery in this series by Joanne Dobson.

Karen, a professor in the English department for the past six years, has been working hard for tenure. She's given talks at conferences, had papers published, and she knows she's eminently qualified. But someone else at the college has an edge on her: Joe Lone Wolf is a Native American, and though he hasn't done anything to further his career, he's known to be the preferred choice by the college board. But before an announcement can be made, Joe is murdered.

The investigating officer is no fan of Karen's, having worked with the man in her life, Massachusetts police lieutenant Charles Piotrowski, who is currently serving with the National Guard in Iraq. Believing the police won't put much effort into proving her innocence, Karen teams up with another officer, who's on maternity leave. They discover that, while Joe was popular with his students and other members of the faculty, he harbored a secret life ... with plenty of suspects that may have wanted to see him dead.

The author perceptively handles the sensitive subject of discrimination -- racial, ethnic, socioeconomic -- plus the often awkward consequences of political correctness within the context of the murder mystery plot in Death Without Tenure. In addition to the murdered Native American are a Muslim female student, who is the subject of ridicule by her peers, and the poor son of a coal miner, who may lose his scholarship on the whim of a faculty member. The more entertaining aspects to the story, however, involve conflicts of a less controversial kind: a behind-the-scenes glimpse of college faculty and administrators jockeying for an edge -- any edge -- over one other for what may seem to the rest of the world to be rather trivial pursuits. At the center of it all, though, is Karen in amateur sleuth mode, who provides the perfect focal point for this academic-themed mystery.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Death Without Tenure and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

If you are interested in purchasing Death Without Tenure from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Professor Karen Pelletier is about to realize her dream; after six years in the English Department at New England’s exclusive Enfield College, she is up for tenure. Then Professor Joseph Lone Wolf, her rival for the one tenured spot in the department, whose ethnicity gives him minority-preference status, is found dead from an overdose of Peyote buttons. First on the list of suspects, Karen is harassed by a homicide cop with a grudge against his colleague, the love of Karen’s life, Lieutenant Charlie Piotrowski.

On campus, political passions rage. Two of Karen’s favorite students, Khalida Ahmed, a hijab-wearing Muslim, and Hank Brody, a coal-miner’s son on full scholarship, are caught up in the furor. Without the presence of her beloved Charlie, now serving a tour of duty with the National Guard in Iraq, will Karen be able to survive the investigation, protect her students, and find a permanent niche in the world of academe? And what if the killer feels the need to strike again?

Return to Mystery Books News ...

The Mystery Bookshelf: Lowboy by John Wray

The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a library of new mysteries, is pleased to feature a new suspense title we recently received from the publisher.

Lowboy by John Wray
Non-series
Picador (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: February 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-42933-1

About Lowboy (from the publisher): Early one morning in New York City, Will Heller, a sixteen-yearold paranoid schizophrenic, gets on an uptown B train alone. Like most people he knows, Will believes the world is being destroyed by climate change; unlike most people, he’s convinced he can do something about it. Unknown to his doctors, unknown to the police—unknown even to Violet Heller, his devoted mother—Will alone holds the key to the planet’s salvation. To cool down the world, he has to cool down his own overheating body: to cool down his body, he has to find one willing girl. And he already has someone in mind.

This is the story of Will’s fantastic and terrifying odyssey through the city’s tunnels, back alleys, and streets in search of Emily Wallace, his one great hope, and of Violet Heller’s desperate attempts to locate her son before psychosis claims him completely. She is joined by Ali Lateef, a missing-persons specialist, who gradually comes to discover that more is at stake than the recovery of a runaway teen: Violet -- beautiful, enigmatic, and as profoundly at odds with the world as her son -- harbors a secret that Lateef will discover at his own peril.

About John Wray: The author of two critically acclaimed novels, he was named one of Granta magazine’s Best of Young American Novelists in 2007. The recipient of a Whiting Award, he lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit his website at JohnWray.net.

Return to Mystery Books News …

Games of Mystery: Empress of the Deep in The Darkest Secret, New from Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed board, electronic and video games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery casual 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.

A beautiful young woman awakens in a vast and mysterious undersea temple complex, not knowing who or where she is. She soon learns her name is Anna and that she has been imprisoned, frozen in a death-like slumber in a secret crypt for over a century. Now she must escape the crypt and explore the ancient underwater chambers to unravel the mystery of her entrapment. Use your hidden object and puzzle-solving skills to help Anna unlock the enchanted Royal Relics, and reveal the terrible secrets of her own magical identity ... before it's too late.

Also available: Empress of the Deep: The Darkest Secret Game Walkthrough.

Empress of the Deep: The Darkest Secret may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (159.86 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.

Watch a preview video below:

Get any standard 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! (Collector's Editions earn 3 punches each, half-way towards your free game!)

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!

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Ethan Hawke and Kristin Scott Thomas To Star in Film Adaptation of The Woman in the Fifth by Douglas Kennedy

Variety is reporting that Ethan Hawke and Kristin Scott Thomas have been signed to star in the film adaptation of The Woman in the Fifth, the 2007 thriller by Douglas Kennedy. Filming is expected to begin this March in Paris with Pawel Pawlikowski directing.

About The Woman in the Fifth (from the publisher): Harry Ricks is a man who has lost everything. A romantic mistake at the small American college where he used to teach has cost him his job, his marriage and his relationship with his only child. When the ensuing scandal threatens to completely destroy him, he flees to Paris.

Harry arrives in the French capital in the bleak midwinter and finds himself in a grubby room in a grubby quarter, with a job as a nightwatchman for a sinister operation. Just when thinks that he has hit rock bottom, he meets Margit – an elegant, cultivated Hungarian émigré – widowed and, like Harry, alone.

But though Harry is soon smitten, Margit keeps her distance. She will only see him at her apartment in the fifth arrondissement, and is guarded about her work, her past, her life. While Margit remains reticent, Harry concerns shift, as he begins to feel that there is a dark force is at work in his life. When a man is found dead and the police look to Harry, he finds himself waking up in a nightmare from which there is no easy escape.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Games of Mystery: The Tarot Card Mystery and Born Into Darkness, New This Week at Amazon Video Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed board, electronic and video games, parties for kids and adults, murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, and more mysterious fun, is pleased to announce this week's new mystery and suspense games available for immediate download from Amazon Video Games.

— ◊ —

Strange Cases: The Tarot Card Mystery

FBI Agent Claire Ellery has a knack for getting assigned strange cases, and is currently investigating a triple kidnapping in a small town. But what initially seems like an open and shut case soon unravels into something much more sinister. Follow the tarot cards left by an anonymous source and search mysterious scenes for clues to help Agent Ellery rescue the kidnapped girls and stop an evil ritual.

Windows Vista / XP (107 MB download).

— ◊ —

Born Into Darkness

Amber Blythe is the night curator at the Bostonian Museum, where she is surrounded by artifacts and relics of the past. Considering she is a 200 year old vampire, she feels right at home. One night, she is confronted by Nathaniel Black, who makes Amber a strange proposition - help him find the legendary Shroud of Lazarus, a relic said to cure any illness and even bring the dead back to life! In order to find it, the two must travel the world on a wild hidden object adventure!

Windows Vista / XP (126 MB download).

— ◊ —

A complete list of downloadable mystery games is available on our Games of Mystery: Amazon.com Game Download page.

Return to Mystery Books News ...