Harlequin Worldwide Mystery Titles for March 2010

eHarlequin.com has announced the March 2010 titles for their Worldwide imprint, your partner in crime. Amateur sleuths, traditional cozies, police procedurals and private-eye fiction, written by award-winning authors. 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.)

— ◊ —

Howling Bloody Murder by Sue Owens Wright
A Beanie and Cruiser Mystery (1st in series)

Murder comes to beautiful Lake Tahoe with a serial killer dubbed the Tahoe Terror. Journalist Elsinore "Beanie" MacBean and her basset hound, Cruiser, unofficially assist the local law, looking for similarities among the victims—all powerful, well-connected businessmen. Police suspect the trail leads back to militant tribal councils and their fury against land developers, but whispers of the supernatural add an eerie twist to the case.

As Beanie—and Cruiser—spend a rather chilly Thanksgiving holiday with daughter Nona and her new and unlikable boyfriend, Beanie links the murders to a large corporation trying to a build a casino resort on Cave Rock. Soon, it's a downhill race of life and death with a killer who has everything to lose if Beanie exposes the truth …

— ◊ —

Donna Rose and the Roots of Evil by Norma Tadlock Johnson
A Cedar Harbor Mystery (2nd in series)

Retired schoolteacher and avid gardener Donna Rose Galbreath is no longer slinging slugs over her neighbor Cyrus's fence, but the duo continue to waver between feuding and friendship. Still, nothing brings folks together like a dead body—especially when it's the loathed and unlamented police chief, Billy Donniker. Donna's friend, Officer Jake Santorini, is arrested, having muttered something about killing his boss at the awards dinner where Billy succumbed to poisoned food.

It takes skill and determination to sift through all those who wanted Billy dead to find someone who might actually have done the deed. When the murder weapon proves to be a poisonous plant Donna is uniquely familiar with, she makes the connection between several of Cedar Harbor's influential—and not so influential—citizens to expose the roots of evil before an innocent man pays the price …

— ◊ —

Death of a Lovable Geek by Maria Hudgins
A Dotsy Lamb Mystery (2nd in series)

American medieval history professor Dotsy Lamb and her best friend Lettie Osgood are working an archaeological dig in the Scottish Highlands on the grounds of Dunlaggan Castle when murder strikes. The victim is genial, well-liked graduate student Froggy Quale, the on-site pollen and spore expert. His roommate, the dig's media man, is the prime suspect, but Dotsy, quite fond of both boys, is convinced otherwise.

When the head of the dig, Dr. John Sinclair, dies of unnatural causes soon thereafter, Dotsy shovels a little deeper, suspecting there are some buried secrets in a dark family history. Closing in on a clever and desperate killer, Dotsy makes a stunning connection to poisoned mushrooms, ghostly noises echoing through the halls and the discovery of a centuries-old gold coin that could rewrite the history of the eleventh century …

— ◊ —

If you enjoy the books in this series, you can join Worldwide Mystery and get 2 free books plus 2 free gifts just for giving the automatic program a try. Accepting your two free Worldwide Mystery 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 three additional Worldwide Mystery 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:

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Authors on Tour This Week: Paul Harris, for his novel The Secret Keeper

Mystery Books News is pleased to be coordinating this week's online book tour for author Paul Harris, whose debut novel, The Secret Keeper (Plume Trade Paperback, February 2010), chronicles the story of one man's search for the truth in war-torn Sierra Leone, where the rules of civilized society don't apply ...

Paul will be visiting seven blog sites this week:

Tuesday, March 02, 2010
• In Reference to Murder: Author Interview
• Murder by 4: Author Guest Post

Wednesday, March 03, 2010
• Wendy's Minding Spot: Book Review
• Bookish Ruth: Author Guest Post

Thursday, March 04, 2010
• Novel Works: Author Interview
• Cheryl's Book Nook: Book Review

Friday, March 05, 2010
• Books, Books, the Magical Fruit: Author Guest Post

A complete schedule of Paul's tour including a biography and more information about The Secret Keeper can be found at Authors on Tour: Paul Harris.

We're also thrilled to announce that Paul is giving away a signed copy of his new book to one lucky tour visitor. Visit each tour site on the day indicated and pick up a unique PIN to be used to enter the giveaway on that day. The entry form can be found on Paul's tour page.

We hope you have the opportunity to stop by each of the tour sites this week to learn more about Paul and how his experience as a journalist was woven into the fictional story of Danny Kellerman.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mysteries on TV: The Beiderbecke Connection and Matlock, New This Week on DVD

Mysteries on TV, your source for the most complete selection of detective, amateur sleuth, private investigator, and suspense television mystery series now available or coming soon to DVD, is profiling one series that has a season DVD being released this week plus the conclusion to a British trilogy.

— ◊ —

The third and final entry in The Beiderbecke Trilogy, The Beiderbecke Connection, has Trevor Chaplin and Jill Swinburne settling down.

Teachers at a run-down school in Leeds, they’re new parents to a son they call Firstborn. Trevor (James Bolam) is a jazz fan; Jill (Barbara Flynn) wants to save the planet. One day a friend asks a favor: will they look after a refugee? His name is Ivan, but he’s not that terrible.

Soon Trevor and Jill are harboring criminals, under police surveillance, and trying to convince the headmaster that their new school supplies aren’t stolen goods.

The Beiderbecke Trilogy: The Beiderbecke Connection DVD set of 2 discs contain the conclusion to award-winning playwright Alan Plater trilogy, where the banter is easy and the humor wry in an offbeat adventure set to a jazzy, BAFTA-winning soundtrack. This episode originally aired as a 4-part miniseries from November through December 1988 on ITV.

— ◊ —

Andy Griffith starred as Atlanta defense attorney Ben Matlock, known for charging a $100,000 fee but also known for finding the real culprit in Matlock, a crime drama that aired for six seasons on NBC before moving over to ABC for its final three seasons.

The series was created by Dean Hargrove who was also associated with the revival of the Perry Mason series, Diagnosis: Murder (in an episode of which, during its 4th season, Matlock is pulled out of retirement to defend a colleague of Dr. Mark Sloan), Jake and the Fatman, the Father Dowling mysteries, and more.

Clarence Gilyard Jr. joined the cast this season as Conrad McMasters, Matlock's private investigator, a former deputy sheriff and rodeo rider.

The Matlock: Season Four DVD set of 6 discs contain the 21 episodes (including 3 2-part episodes) that aired on NBC from September 1989 through May 1990.

— ◊ —

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

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Harlequin Mira Mystery and Suspense Titles for March 2010

eHarlequin.com has announced the March 2010 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.)

— ◊ —

The Cold Room by J. T. Ellison
A Taylor Jackson Mystery (4th in series)

Homicide detective Taylor Jackson thinks she's seen it all in Nashville—but she's never seen anything as perverse as The Conductor. Once his victim is captured, he contains her in a glass coffin, slowly starving her to death. Only then does he give in to his attraction.

Later, he creatively disposes of the body by reenacting scenes from famous paintings. Strangely, similar macabre works are being displayed in Europe. Taylor teams up with her fiancé, FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin, and New Scotland Yard detective James "Memphis" Highsmythe—a haunted man who has eyes only for Taylor—to put an end to The Conductor's art collection.

Has the killer gone international? Or are there dueling artists, competing to create the ultimate masterpiece?

— ◊ —

Out of Body by Stella Cameron
The Court of Angels Trilogy (1st in series)

Born of an ancient family of clairvoyants, Marley Millet finds that her psychic gift is both unsettling and incredibly dangerous. She never wants to "travel" again—but the choice is not hers to make.

After glimpsing the fates of two missing New Orleans jazz singers, Marley knows she has no choice and must speak up before more women disappear. Flinty cop-turned-writer Gray Fisher, who interviewed both chanteuses before they vanished, takes a special interest in Marley's incredible story—and in Marley.

Scouring the wild clubs of the French Quarter, Marley and Gray make an unlikely and uneasy team. But their determination is matched only by the heat between them … and the evil they have uncovered.

— ◊ —

The Reincarnationist by M. J. Rose
Non-Series

A bomb in Rome, a flash of bluish-white, and photojournalist Josh Ryder's world explodes. As Josh recovers, thoughts that have the emotion, the intensity, the intimacy of memories invade him. But they are not his. They are ancient … and violent with an urgency he cannot ignore—pulling him to save Sabina … and the treasures she protects. But who is Sabina?

Desperate for answers, Josh turns to the Phoenix Foundation—a research facility that scientifically documents past-life experiences. He is led to an archaeological dig and to Professor Gabriella Chase, who has discovered an ancient, powerful secret that threatens to merge the past with the present.

Here, the dead call out to the living, and murders of the past become murders of the present.

 Read our review of The Reincarnationist by M. J. Rose.

— ◊ —

The Séance by Heather Graham
A Harrison Investigation (5th in series)

A chill falls over Christina Hardy's housewarming party when talk turns to a recent murder that has all the hallmarks of the so-called "Interstate Killer" murders from fifteen years before. To lighten the mood, the guests drag out an old Ouija board for a little spooky fun … and that's when things become truly terrifying.

Summoned by the Ouija board, the restless spirit of Beau Kidd, the lead detective—and chief suspect—on the original case, seeks Christina's help: the latest killing isn't a copycat crime, and he wants his name cleared. Back in the real world, cop-turned-writer Jed Braden is skeptical of Christina's ghostly encounters, but his police sources confirm all the intimate details of the case—her otherworldly source is reliable, and the body count is growing.

The spirits are right. The Interstate Killer is still out there, and Christina's life is hanging in the balance between this world and the next.

— ◊ —

Shift by Rachel Vincent
A Werecats Thriller (5th in series)

Being the first female werecat enforcer isn't easy. Scars accumulate, but I'm stronger in so many ways.

As for my personal life? It's complicated. Choices worth making always are. Ever since my brother's death and my father's impeachment, it's all I can do to prevent more blood from spilling. Now our Pride is under attack by a flight of vicious thunderbirds. And making peace with our new enemies may be the only way to get the best of our old foe.

With the body count rising and treachery everywhere, my instincts tell me to look before I leap. But sometimes a leap of faith is the only real option …

— ◊ —

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:

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Games of Mystery: Apparitions, Kotsmine Hills, 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.

The Peter Wren Paranormal Investigative Agency is working on a new case at Kotsmine Hills in Virginia, a lonely mining town that been the site of a terrible disaster in 1929. You see, a snowstorm swept through the area, blanketing the town and cutting it off from outside help. Workers at the local Kotsmine Mill were called in during the storm to repair some machinery that had broken down, but a fire broke out during their attempts, and most were killed including people in nearby homes that burned down in the spreading blaze. Is it their spirits that still haunt the old mining town?

Join seasoned paranormal investigators Lucy Ponds and James Light in the game as you help them locate dozens of hidden objects, uncover clues that may solve a decades old mystery and play additional puzzles in the supposedly haunted Kotsmine Hills.

This game was developed in conjunction with The Atlantic Paranormal Society, which was the subject of Ghost Hunters, a popular weekly reality television series for the SyFy channel. It is the second game in this series; the first, Apparitions: Red Reef Inn is not available from BFG.

Apparitions: Kotsmine Hills may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (61.62 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 Godoku Puzzle for March 01, 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 D E H K O R S W

This Bill Pronzini short story features a con man who picks the wrong marks (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 ...

Mystery Book Review: Stirring Up Strife by Jennifer Stanley

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Stirring Up Strife by Jennifer Stanley. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Stirring Up Strife by Jennifer Stanley
A Hope Street Church Mystery

St. Martin's Minotaur (Mass Market Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-312-37685-5 (0312376855)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-37685-7 (9780312376857)
Publication Date: December 2009
List Price: $7.99

Review: Jennifer Stanley introduces 32-year-old Cooper Lee, a plucky lady repairman of office equipment in need of a new life, in Stirring Up Strife, the first in the Hope Street Church mystery series.

After being dumped by her boyfriend of five years, Cooper has moved back with her family in Richmond, Virginia. She's working as a repairer of office equipment -- copiers, laminators, fax machines, and the like -- for a local company, They Make It Work. If only she could patch up her broken heart as quickly as she can put together a broken machine. When Cooper is sent to the offices of Capital City, the nation's largest credit card company, she strikes up a conversation with Brooke Hughes, the office manager. Before she knows it, she's telling Brooke about her miserable life. Brooke invites her to come as her guest to her church where she can meet new people in a relaxed environment. They have a small study group, men and women, who enjoy learning more about the Bible and themselves. Cooper accepts, but following the services on Sunday, Brooke is not among the group, who welcome here as if she was already one of them. Just before their session concludes, they learn that Brooke has been murdered and her husband, Wesley, has been arrested. The group believes Wesley could not have possibly killed his wife, and fearful that the police might not look much further for a suspect, they pair off -- including Cooper -- to search for clues that Wesley is not a killer.

Stirring Up Strife is a splendid mystery with an impressive cast of characters. There are Savannah, a legally blind artist, and Nathan, a computer geek with large feet; Jake, a "recovering Catholic" and Little League coach, and real estate agent Trish, whose face is plastered on billboards through the city; and Quinton, a "banker dude" who's also a master cake maker. Each of these characters is original and real, and it's a treat getting to know them. That they're part of a solidly plotted, really quite charming, murder mystery is all the more enjoyable.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Stirring Up Strife and to St. Martin's Minotaur for providing a copy of the book for this review.

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

If you are interested in purchasing Stirring Up Strife from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Cooper Lee can repair a copy machine — but can she repair her life? That’s one of the many Big Questions that lead this newly single Richmond girl to Sunrise Bible Study at the Hope Street Church. Cooper hasn’t attended church in ages, but after getting dumped by her long-time boyfriend — and moving in with her family — she could use some new friends, and a new outlook on life. Happily, the members of the Bible group are anything but cookie-cutter, which suits Cooper just fine. There’s a blind folk artist, a playboy meteorologist, an investment banker with a sweet tooth, an ambitious realtor, and a cute shy web designer who just might be “the one” for Cooper. But the member of Hope Street Church who invited Cooper to join this motley crew — an office worker who got her wedding ring stuck in a copier — is something else altogether: She’s dead And her husband is suspected of murder!

The Sunrise gang jumps into action, vowing to solve this unholy mess — with God’s guidance — and Cooper’s snooping …

Return to Mystery Books News ...

Mystery Book Review: Death's Green Eyes by Kent Wallace

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Death's Green Eyes by Kent Wallace. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Death's Green Eyes by Kent Wallace
Non-series

World Audience (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-935444-62-X (193544462X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-935444-62-6 (9781935444626)
Publication Date: December 2009
List Price: $20.00

Review: Kent Wallace's debut novel, Death's Green Eyes, is a stylish if occasionally uneven thriller featuring a "seen it all"-type character who gets involved in a murder investigation.

Wade Ellington a guy who has struggled in life and wasn't above breaking the law to get by. He's on his way to Los Angeles because a woman he once knew called to say she needed him. She sounded scared. He discovers her body in her apartment, an apparent suicide, but he doesn't buy it ... and neither do the police. Unsure why she called him, unsure it was even her, Wade wants some answers. But someone else is determined to prevent him from getting them.

The opening chapter introduces the lead character in a series of non-linear flashbacks and sets the tone for the book. The writing is generally crisp and edgy, often graphic and explicit, but also somewhat choppy; M-dashes abound, as illustrated in the this short passage from mid-way through the book:

The area code was 213 -- Los Angeles -- no surprise. Now I was nodding like the idiot boy -- a smile.

They left, and I paced -- popped another beer. I ran through some scenarios -- conversations -- approaches. I was excited but didn't want to sound it -- I knew I was at least two more beers from making a call.

When I finally did call -- three beers later -- I reached a machine. I'd only considered what I was going to say to [her] if she answered the phone -- reckoning I'd ad lib, play the magic game -- leaving a message confused me, and I hung up the phone -- then sat wondering if the receiver had disconnected before I'd uttered [a word].

At times, Death's Green Eyes risks being more style than substance, but the murder mystery plot is well conceived and played out. It's an interesting example of a noir thriller that is anything but mainstream.

Special thanks to Kent Wallace for providing a copy of Death's Green Eyes for this review.

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

If you are interested in purchasing Death's Green Eyes from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Wade is knock-around guy who has done everything and seen more -- from drug smuggling to prostitution; from providing protection to those who need it, to retrieving things for people who can't go through traditional channels for help ... Ellington has thrived in society's underbelly -- mingling with hookers and hit-men, crooked cops and mafia capos ...

A desperate late night telephone call from a long ago friend and lover -- an ex-prostitute turned movie star -- throws him into a frenzied case of whodunit ...

Against his better judgment and the advice of his patrono, Ellington's conscience and unorthodox belief system force him to find the killer -- in the process he finds love and self-respect.

Return to Mystery Books News ...