Mystery Book Review: Let It Ride by John McFetridge

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

Let It Ride by John McFetridge
Non-series

St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-59948-X (031259948X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-59948-5 (9780312599485)
Publication Date: February 2010
List Price: $24.99

Review: Crime and criminals north of the border are the subjects of a twisted caper-style plot in Let It Ride, a stand-alone thriller by John McFetridge.

Former Armed Forces Sergeant Vernard "Get" McGetty travels from Detroit to Toronto to meet with the leader of the Saints of Hall in an effort to expand his network of illicit cocaine trafficking. But another opporunity -- possibly far more lucrative -- presents itself when he meets up with Sunitha Suraiya, who has plans to take on the Saints for what are believed to be millions in gold bullion they have in their possession. Separately, Toronto cops Maureen McKeon and her partner Andre Price are trailing them, albeit on a completely separate path, that starts with the seemingly random shooting of a husband and wife in their car while they were on their way home.

Let It Ride isn't so much convoluted -- which, to be sure, it is -- as it is cluttered. In the first chapter alone, stories are told from four points of view (though, to be honest, it isn't obvious why one is called "Price and McKeon" and another "McKeon and Price", so maybe they shouldn't be counted as two); another three are introduced in the second chapter, with a half-a-dozen or so more popping up in later chapters. The primary plotline is rather interesting, and could have been compelling, but there's so much going on from each character's perspective that, at times, it's hard to stay engaged. The author is clearly taking an unusual stylistic noir-ish approach to the narrative here; for some it may appear to be innovative or exciting, but for many readers, it's likely to get very tedious very quickly and be something of a chore to complete, hardly the feature of a recommended novel.

Special thanks to St. Martin's Minotaur for providing a copy of Let It Ride for this review.

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

If you are interested in purchasing Let It Ride from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Vernard "Get" McGetty is back from serving in Afghanistan, back dealing drugs in Detroit and looking to move up with his buddy JT, a guy he met in Kandahar who also happens to be the leader of the Saints of Hell—a notorious Ontario biker gang currently in the process of taking over all North of the border drug traffic. Commuting weekly across the line into the center of JT’s high flying empire, Get hooks up with Sunitha, a decidedly independent woman who’s gone from working seedy massage parlors to robbing them at gunpoint—and has dreams of a much bigger score: taking the Saints for the millions they have stashed in gold bars. Meanwhile, the Toronto cops have the Saints under a microscope. Detectives Price and McKeon are getting nowhere with a double drive-by killing on the Gardiner Expressway—a husband and wife returning from a swingers party—and the investigation keeps leading back to the Saints …

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Mysteries on TV: Dalziel and Pascoe, In Plain Sight, Matt Houston, and Scarecrow and Mrs. King, 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.

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The blunt-talking Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel (Warren Clarke) does not suffer fools gladly, but he has even more trouble with what he calls the "smart arses" of this world. So when the inexperienced Peter Pascoe (Colin Buchanan) joins his team at Mid-Yorkshire CID, the omens don’t look good in the first season of Dalziel and Pascoe, a British crime drama that aired for 12 seasons from 1996 through 2007.

Pascoe is one of the new breed of career police officers -- armed with a degree, a caring attitude, and a sharp brain. At first Pascoe is somewhat taken aback by his brash and ballsy boss, but it soon becomes apparent there is more to Andy Dalziel than meets the eye. Pascoe and his feisty fiance Ellie (Susannah Corbett) find Dalziel by turns exasperating and amusing. And although Pascoe often has to bear the brunt of Dalziel's jibes, it is hard to resist his clumsy attempts at friendship.

The series is based on characters created by Reginald Hill.

The Dalziel and Pascoe: Season One DVD set of 2 discs contain the three episodes ("A Clubbable Woman", "An Advancement of Learning", and "An Autumn Shroud") that originally aired during March 1996 on BBC.

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Mary McCormack returns as Mary Shannon, a U.S. Marshal with the highly secretive Federal Witness Protection Program (WITSEC), in the second season of the suspenseful and quirky hit series In Plain Sight.

For Mary, living a double life and getting shot at on a regular basis are all in day’s work. So are teaming up with her trusted partner, Marshall Mann (Frederick Weller), to protect Federal Witnesses who relocate to Albuquerque, New Mexico and juggling a complicated personal life. Gripping and refreshing, In Plain Sight co-stars Lesley Ann Warren (Desperate Housewives), Paul Ben-Victor (The Wire) and Nichole Hiltz (Bones)

The In Plain Sight: Season Two DVD set of 3 discs contain the 15 episodes that originally aired on USA Network from April through August, 2009. Bonus features on the DVD set include a gag reel and deleted scenes.

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A fabulously wealthy Texan moves to California to oversee his family's offshore drilling enterprises, but spends most of his time dabbling as a private investigator solving crimes involving his friends in Los Angeles, in Matt Houston, an entertaining if somewhat lightweight crime drama that aired on ABC for three seasons from 1982 through 1985.

Lee Horsley starred as the titular character, who lives in a penthouse and flies his own helicopter or drives his custom Excalibur to and from his investigations. Naturally, he is always surrounded by beautiful women, including his Harvard-educated lawyer and frequent investigative partner C. J. (played by Pamela Hensley).

The Matt Houston: Season One DVD set of 6 discs contain the 23 episodes that originally aired from September 1982 through April 1983.

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Goodbye, PTA ... hello, foreign intrigue! Single mom Amanda King (Kate Jackson) leads a quiet suburban life in Washington DC until the day a stranger shoves a package in her hands with instructions to give it to the man in the red hat in Scarecrow and Mrs. King, a light-hearted crime drama that ran for 4 seasons from 1983 through 1987 and CBS.

In no time, Amanda is dodging bullets, foiling assassination plots – and finding herself drawn to the dashing young man, agent Lee Stetson (Bruce Boxleitner), aka Scarecrow, Of course, Scarecrow has no interest in a ditsy amateur spy, no matter how pretty. But she certainly is handy in a crisis!

The Scarecrow and Mrs. King: Season One DVD set of 5 discs contain the 21 episodes that originally aired from October 1983 through May 1984.

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

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Mystery Godoku Puzzle for March 08, 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:

B E H I L P R S U

This is the title of Michael H. Thomson's debut novel featuring journalist Toby Thomas (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: The Information Officer by Mark Mills

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

The Information Officer by Mark Mills
Non-series

Random House (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-4000-6818-5 (1400068185)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4000-6818-0 (9781400068180)
Publication Date: February 2010
List Price: $25.00

Review: Set over the summer of 1942 on the island nation of Malta, and during an intense period of conflict in World War II, The Information Officer by Mark Mills effectively combines elements of a romantic thriller and a novel of international intrigue into what is, at its core, an intricately crafted and solidly plotted murder mystery.

Max Chadwick is the titular character, a British official responsible for managing (some might say manipulating) news reports on the status of the war effort in Malta. Located in a strategic position in the Mediterranean, Malta is one of the most heavily bombed places on the planet ... and the British, who are defending the island from an Italian invasion, are considering pulling out, leaving the island virtually defenseless. Due to a naval blockade, supplies of both everyday items and military arms on the island are in short supply. Chadwick knows it's his job to keep the opinion of the Maltese people on the side of their defenders for as long as possible, but that job becomes infinitely more difficult when he learns that three women have recently been murdered ... and the prime suspect is a British submariner. Withholding key information from his superiors and the public, he begins his own investigation into the crimes, only to risk not only his own life but that of the woman he loves.

Mills lays a strong foundation for his story by creating a most likeable character in Max Chadwick, about whom all the action revolves. Early in the book, Chadwick reflects on his current situation, asking himself, "[W]hat had become of that well-meaning young man dreaming of a bright future in a top firm of architects. It seemed impossible to him that he could have traveled from that to this in such a brief time, from an airy studio in the Architectural Association to a Mediterranean bomb site, from enthusiastic student to cynical military official." The other principal characters are equally well developed. A lot of history is presented, but it's done so in such as way that it seems integral to the plot, and not just as background material. The whodunit aspect is particularly noteworthy, the killer's identity in the end a surprise and yet, in retrospect, it probably shouldn't have been, clever and subtle misdirection always the hallmark of a superior mystery.

Special thanks to Random House for providing a copy of The Information Officer for this review.

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

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

Synopsis (from the publisher): Summer 1942: Malta, a small windswept island in the Mediterranean, has become the most bombed patch of earth on the planet, worse even than London during the Blitz. The Maltese, a fiercely independent people, withstand the relentless Axis air raids.

Max Chadwick is the British officer charged with manipulating the news on Malta to bolster the population's fragile esprit de corps. This is all, besides a few broken-down fighter planes, that stands in the face of Nazi occupation and perhaps even victory—for Malta is the stepping-stone the Germans need between Europe and North Africa.

When Max learns of the brutal murder of a young island woman—along with evidence that the crime was committed by a British officer—he knows that the Maltese loyalty to the war effort could be instantly shattered. As the clock ticks down toward all-out invasion, Max must investigate the murder—beyond the gaze of his superiors, friends, and even the woman he loves.

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Games of Mystery: Delaware St. John in The Seacliff Tragedy, 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 sound of a hundred voices call to Delaware St. John and lead him to the site of a decrepit amusement park. The site closed four years eariler after a collapse killed more than a hundred people. As Delaware explores the area he discovers the tragic accident is only the beginning of the dark events taking place.

Guarding the park are demons known as Shadow People. Delaware and his partner Kelly Bradford must fend off these soul-sucking monsters if they are to survive the night.

Use Kelly's EMF counter to track paranormal activity invisible to the naked eye. Thoroughly explore the remains of the park to discover all of the secrets behind the Seacliff tragedy.

The Seacliff Tragedy is the third game in this paranormal series. See also the first two games, The Curse of Midnight Manor and The Town With No Name.

Also available: Delaware St. John: The Seacliff Tragedy Game Walkthrough.

Delaware St. John: The Seacliff Tragedy may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A sample version (162.58 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour; the full version is 569.02 MB.

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!

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Mystery Book Review: Requiem in Vienna by J. Sydney Jones

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Requiem in Vienna by J. Sydney Jones. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Requiem in Vienna by J. Sydney Jones
A Karl Werthen Viennese Mystery

St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-38390-8 (0312383908)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-38390-9 (9780312383909)
Publication Date: February 2010
List Price: $24.99

Review: Attorney Karl Werthen is barely in business, having just hung up his new plaque ("Advokat of Will and Trusts, Criminal Law, and Private Inquiries") when he's called upon to look into the mysterious events surrounding a series of accidents that have befallen the conductor of the Vienna Court Opera, Gustav Mahler, in Requiem in Vienna, the second mystery in this series by J. Sydney Jones.

It is June 1899 and while preparing for one of the final performances before the summer recess, a heavy curtain, its hem lined with lead weights, falls to the stage while Mahler is present. He escapes injury, but a young diva isn't so lucky. This is but one of several incidents that have occurred. Are these coincidental accidents, or is someone trying to kill the conductor? Alma Schindler, one of Mahler's mistresses, calls upon Werthen to look into the matter. Dr. Hanns Gross, Karl's old friend and colleague, and (if he says so himself) the empire's foremost criminologist, offers to provide secondary support and work as a consultant to the case. Werthen inquires into the lives of many of Vienna's musical society to find an answer as to who wants Mahler dead, and discovers the list is lengthy. But the most promising suspects also have solid alibis. He begins to wonder if his focus is too narrow, that someone might not only want Mahler dead but has also previously targeted -- and may in the future target -- other famous Vienna musicians, some of whom have died under suspicious circumstances.

The best historical mysteries strike a good balance between the history and the mystery. Here, Jones deftly and successfully combines the two in Requiem in Vienna, offering biographical information on Wagner, Brahms, Strauss and others together with background information on the aristocracy of late 19th century Vienna in a solidly plotted whodunit-style mystery story. Adding to the appeal are descriptions of the city itself, which serves as more than just a setting for the book, but also seems to take on the characteristics of a silent partner to Werthen, indirectly assisting him with his investigation. Requiem in Vienna a very interesting and informative, well-paced novel, and is highly recommended.

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

Synopsis (from the publisher): At first it seemed like a series of accidents plagued Vienna’s Court Opera. But after a singer is killed during rehearsals of a new production, the evidence suggests something much more dangerous. Someone is trying to murder the famed conductor and composer Gustav Mahler. Worse, Mahler might not be the first musical genius to be dispatched by this unknown killer.

Alma Schindler, one of Mahler's many would-be mistresses, asks the lawyer and aspiring private investigator Karl Werthen to help stop the attacks. With his new wife, Berthe, and his old friend, the criminologist Hanns Gross, Werthen delves into Vienna's rich society of musicians to discover the identity of the person who has targeted one of Austria's best-known artists.

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Reviews of Mystery and Suspense Books for Kids, New This Week on Book Trends

Book Trends, a review site for young adult and children books, published several new book reviews this past week. We're presenting here a summary of those in the mystery / suspense category.

Lunch Lady and the Author Visit Vendetta by Jarrett J. Krosoczka. The 3rd book in the Lunch Lady Comics series. Recommended for readers aged 10 to 12. Lexile measure: N/A. Reviewed by a 6th grade student who wrote, "Great Brussels sprouts! What an amazing graphic novel! The Lunch Lady and the Author Visit Vendetta is one of the best graphic novels I have EVER read!"

For more reviews of children and young adult books, visit Book Trends; their reviews will amaze you!

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Games of Mystery: Shutter Island, The Dracula Files, and The Enchanted Canvases, New 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.

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Shutter Island

US Marshal Teddy Daniels has come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Along with his partner Chuck Aule, he sets out to find an escaped patient, a murderess named Rachel Solando, as a hurricane bears down upon them. But nothing at Ashecliffe Hospital is what it seems, and disappearing patients isn't the only secret the island hides. The closer they get to the truth though, the more elusive it becomes, and the more they fear that someone doesn't want them to leave Shutter Island.

Based on the novel Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane.

Windows Vista / XP (136 MB download).

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The Dracula Files

Michael and Quinn Harker grew up thinking Dracula was nothing more than a fairy tale. But now, after over 100 years, the undead count has risen from his grave as Vladimir Draco, thirsting for blood and revenge. Search for cursed artifacts and holy relics, facing werewolves, vampires, and dark spirits in a globe-spanning Gothic hidden object adventure. End Dracula's reign of terror once and for all!

Includes a bonus full length comic book, The Complete Dracula.

Windows Vista / XP (171 MB download).

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Treasure Seekers: The Enchanted Canvases

Help Nelly find and save her brother from a mysterious Romanian castle! Dive into the castle's magical pictures and discover the secrets of the Philosophers' Stone. Use your hidden object skills to break the spells on the castle and track down Tom. Find the wicked person responsible for imprisoning him and take home the ancient and priceless treasure!

Windows Vista / XP (107 MB download).

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

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Press Release: Ignite the Love of Reading with a Children’s Mystery Book

(PEACHTREE CITY, GA) — Carole Marsh is nationally popular for her Real Kids! Real Places! America’s National Mystery Book Series. She is also founder and CEO of Gallopade International, a leader in children’s fiction books and supplementary educational material.

Late last year, award-winning author Carole Marsh declared 2010: Year of the Children’s Mystery Book and enthusiastically took on the position of spokesperson. “The goal is to ignite the love of reading among young people,” says Marsh. “For many young readers an engaging mystery book is the key that opens their hearts and minds to the love of reading ... many teachers have found this to be the case as well.”

“I’m kicking off by issuing a national challenge to all who are brave enough to accept! The Mystery Challenge encourages young readers to achieve Mystery Mastery by reading at least six mystery books during 2010,” Marsh adds. In addition to the Mystery Challenge, events are set throughout the year, including a Summer Reading Program, National Mystery Series Week and tie-ins to National Get Caught Reading Month and National Library Week.

Children who achieve Mystery Mastery status will be rewarded with a Spooktacular Surprise consisting of a specialized certificate of accomplishment as well as their name posted on the Wall of Fame.

Resources for parents, teachers, librarians and readers are available at www.childrensmysterybooks.org and include a suggested Mystery Reading List, bookmarks, a Mystery Party Kit and more. One of the key pieces available is The History of Children’s Mystery Books-Scaring Kids Into Reading, an article by Marsh outlining the history of children’s mystery books and their influence on young readers.

All information and resources are completely free and help create an enjoyable and educational experience with reading and will aid in making 2010 the most mysterious year ever! Educators, retailers, librarians and all organizations interested in children’s literacy, education and anything spooky or mysterious are invited to get involved by visiting ChildrensMysteryBooks.org and signing up to be on the mailing list or as a sponsor. For more details and contact information please visit ChildrensMysteryBooks.org.

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For more suggestions on children's mysteries for your child to read, please visit First Clues: Mysteries for Kids, your source for information on over 100 mystery series for children and young adults where each series is conveniently listed under four different age categories (New Sleuths, ages 4 to 6; Future Sleuths, ages 7 to 9; Sleuths in Training, ages 10 to 12; and Apprentice Sleuths, ages 13 and older).

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Authors on Tour: Paul Harris Discusses the Difference between Journalism and Fiction

Mystery Books News is pleased to welcome Paul Harris, who has been on tour this week to promote his novel The Secret Keeper (Plume Trade Paperback, February 2010), which 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.

Today Paul joins us to talk about the difference between journalism and fiction.

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What's the difference between writing journalism and writing fiction? The answer should be easy. One involves the reporting and communicating of facts. The other involves the invention of plot and characters and creating an imaginary series of events out of thin air. But one of the strangest things to come out of writing The Secret Keeper was the discovery that I felt my novel far better allowed me to communicate “the truth” than any article I had ever written.

That should be a contradiction in terms. Non-fiction should always be more truthful than fiction. It surely has to be. But I firmly believe the opposite holds true. I love being a journalist. It is the most fun it is possible to imagine and the fact that it pays me a wage and I get to call it a career is just fantastic. But it is also a flawed process by its very nature. Articles are not always produced simply to reflect the facts on the ground. They often reflect the needs and demands of an editor back home. They are trimmed for space, losing vital information simply because something else happened somewhere else in the world or the marketing department happened to sell a bigger advert. Then there are the pressures of time. Deadlines can warp a story, forcing it to be filed before the true picture is known or before an event has played itself out. Finally, there are the limitations placed upon a journalist in the field. This was especially true in Sierra Leone during the war. It was a difficult environment to work in. Sometimes you could not get close to the action. Other times it would have been too dangerous to do so. Communications were a nightmare. It was a fiendishly complex situation and hard to explain to a readership back home that did not really even know where the country was. And then one had to convey all that complexity in 800 words. It is inevitable that a lot of truth gets lost.

That is why a novel is a far better vehicle for explaining the end of the conflict and what it was like to be there at that time. You have space to fully express the complexities of a country and a situation. There is no foreign editor breathing down your neck or inserting prejudices into the narrative. You write the story as you saw it, with time to reflect and gather extra information, not rush to tap out some hurried sentences and then dictate it down a phone line (that was how I worked back then in an era when Internet connections were a lot harder to come by, especially in a city surrounded by rebels). I had found reporting as a journalist on the end of Sierra Leone’s war an intensely emotional experience. But it was also a frustrating one. The situation had been frightening and surreal. Ordinary people had struggled to make do. Some had plotted war, others had wanted peace and yet others exploited the situation to become rich. Aid workers and the UN had struggled to help, some successfully, some not. Some journalists had been brave, others foolish or ego-driven. I did not think anything I had written for my newspaper really conveyed the truth of that. That was why I wrote The Secret Keeper: to try and tell a true story that journalism had not allowed me too.

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We're thrilled to announce that Paul is giving away a signed copy of his book, The Secret Keeper, to one lucky tour visitor. Go to his book tour page, enter your name, e-mail address, and this PIN, 2288, for your chance to win. Entries from Mystery Books News will be accepted until 12:00 Noon (PT) tomorrow. No purchase is required to enter or to win. The winner (first name only) will be announced on his book tour page next week.

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Photo courtesy Paul Harris.

Paul Harris is currently the US Correspondent of the British weekly newspaper The Observer, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper. He has held the post since 2003. Prior to that he reported from Africa for the Daily Telegraph, the Associated Press and Reuters. He has covered conflicts and trouble spots all around the world, including Iraq, Sudan, Burundi, Somalia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Pakistan. In 2003 he was embedded with British forces during the invasion of Iraq.

The Secret Keeper was inspired by his reporting on events in 2000 in Sierra Leone as that country’s long civil war came to an end.

Paul now lives in New York and is happy to have swapped the dangers of the front line for the less obvious perils of writing about American politics and culture.

To learn more about the author and the book, visit his website at TheSecretKeeper.us.

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Mystery Bestsellers for March 05, 2010

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending March 05, 2010 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

After months at the top, Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol drops out of first place to be replaced by last week's featured title Fantasy in Death, the 30th "In Death" thriller with homicide cop Eve Dallas by J. D. Robb. Just one new title enters the list this week.

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Kate White, the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, takes a break from her Bailey Weggins mysteries with her first stand-alone thriller, Hush, which comes in at number 15.

When Lake Warren learns that her husband, Jack, is suing for full custody of their two kids four months after their separation, she's pretty certain that things can't get any worse. The upside is that she's working with the Advanced Fertility Center as a marketing consultant, alongside the attractive, flirtatious Dr. Keaton. But the morning after their one-night stand, Lake finds Keaton with his throat slashed and discovers that things can indeed become worse—they can become deadly.

So as not to jeopardize her case for custody, Lake is forced to lie to the police. Having just been intimate with a man who has been murdered, and wanting to protect herself from being charged with the crime, she begins her own search for the truth. Meanwhile, the police start looking at her closely, people at the clinic start treating her with hostility, and strange clues begin dropping—quite literally—on her doorstep, and Lake realizes that she is dangerously close to dark secrets, both about Keaton and the clinic. But can Lake stop what she's started before it's too late?

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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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Oliver Stone to Direct and Produce an Adaptation of Savages by Don Winslow

Deadline.com is reporting that Oliver Stone has closed a deal to direct and produce an adaptation of the thriller Savages, a yet-to-be-published novel by Don Winslow. Winslow, a Shamus Award-winning author, has had one of his other books adapted, The Death and Lilfe of Bobby Z, a 2007 film starring Paul Walker and Laurence Fishburne.

Savages is scheduled to be published by Simon & Schuster this July.

About Savages (from the publisher): Two pals from Laguna Beach share the same girlfriend and a thriving business growing and distributing the best-quality pot on the planet. When they resist being muscled by a Mexican drug cartel, the girl is kidnapped and the ransom is every cent they've made for the last five years. They agree to pay but hatch an alternate plan to get her back, get revenge, and then get lost.

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Mystery Book Review: The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry

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

The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry
A Cotton Malone Mystery

Ballantine (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-345-50547-6 (0345505476)
ISBN-13: 978-0-345-50547-7 (9780345505477)
Publication Date: December 2009
List Price: $26.00

Review: Cotton Malone is back in The Paris Vendetta, the fifth book in this series by bestselling author Steve Berry. Cotton is a retired police operative with the U.S. Justice Department, and he is brought into the middle of mayhem when Sam Collins, an American Secret Service agent, breaks into his peaceful bookstore demanding help. Why would Cotton help a stranger? It’s simple – Henrik Thorvaldsen asked.

Malone is at first thrown into the middle of a vendetta in which his good friend, Henrik is avenging the murder of his son, Cai. He has eliminated two of the murderers, but he is seeking the man who planned the conspiracy that ended his son’s life – Lord Ashby. However, Sam’s interest is different. He’s hopped upon a conspiracy in which Eliza Larocque is planning on making billions through wreaking havoc on different societies in the form of conflict such as terrorism. Eliza is also involved in her own vendetta in which she is seeking Napoleon’s lost treasure to “rightfully” claim as her own. She has formed a Paris Club in which the investors are sure to turn their 2 million euro investment into billions. Sam has gone against his authorities to investigate this club – and who at the heart of Eliza’s club and vendetta? – Lord Ashby! Once Malone is in Europe he finds that there is more to the situation than he originally knew. Stephanie Nelle, Malone’s former boss, appears unexpectedly to inform him of a situation of even greater consequence. The U.S. Justice Department is closing in on the abduction of one of the world’s most wanted men – Peter Lyon, and the informant working with the Justice Department is none other than Lord Ashby. Malone is put in a horrible situation of conflicting loyalties. As the past collides with the present, and friend collides with foe, Cotton Malone must make the hardest decisions of his life all the while weighing the price of success.

The Paris Vendetta is a gripping novel, and Steve Berry is an expert at character development. Cotton Malone is a force to be reckoned with. He challenges authority, takes risks no one else would dare, and maintains a wry sense of humor! “Foddrell was nowhere to be seen, but Tweedledum and Tweedledee were headed toward the next exhibit space.” His pet names for people he’s chasing are great comedic relief during an otherwise in-depth, action-packed story! The secondary characters are also so well developed and all completely unique. Berry provides back stories that are eloquently done in such a way that the story and characters are enhanced. So many authors use back stories as page fillers, but Steve Berry weaves them so acutely into the character’s persona that the reader comes to legitimately care for the characters. The plot development is also well done, although it is somewhat confusing at times. The reader comes to the novel with the understanding of Eliza’s family vendetta against Napoleon. But, there is so much more to this novel. The layers of one story line over another, vendetta on top of vendetta, is done with such precision. However, Eliza’s economic plans are confusing at best. Even her Paris Club members are confused in the book – seeking for more clarity of how their millions will turn into billions. The idea is fascinating, and there are a lot of parallels to the modern world which are indeed frightening, however, it is unclear how she would carry this out if given the chance, causing the entire proposal to lose some of its validity. Nonetheless, aside from a few quirks here and there, The Paris Vendetta is an excellent read – filled with action, suspense, tragedy, and humor, along with an in-depth story line that will keep readers thinking long after it’s finished.

Special thanks to Margo Nauert for contributing her review of The Paris Vendetta and to Meryl L. Moss Media Relations for providing a copy of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2010 — Margo Nauert — All Rights Reserved — Reprinted with Permission

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

Synopsis (from the publisher): When Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile in 1821, he took to the grave a powerful secret. As general and emperor, he had stolen immeasurable riches from palaces, national treasuries, and even the Knights of Malta and the Vatican. In his final days, his British captors hoped to learn where the loot lay hidden. But he told them nothing, and in his will he made no mention of the treasure. Or did he?

Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone isn't looking for trouble when it comes knocking at his Copenhagen bookshop. Actually, it breaks and enters in the form of an American Secret Service agent with a pair of assassins on his heels. Malone has his doubts about the anxious young man, but narrowly surviving a ferocious firefight convinces him to follow his unexpected new ally.

Their first stop is the secluded estate of Malone's good friend, Henrik Thorvaldsen. The wily Danish tycoon has uncovered the insidious plans of the Paris Club, a cabal of multimillionaires bent on manipulating the global economy. Only by matching wits with a terrorist-for-hire, foiling a catastrophic attack, and plunging into a desperate hunt for Napoleon's legendary lost treasure can Malone hope to avert international financial anarchy.

But Thorvaldsen's real objective is much more personal: to avenge the murder of his son by the larcenous aristocrat at the heart of the conspiracy. Thorvaldsen's vendetta places Malone in an impossible quandary—one that forces him to choose between friend and country, past and present. Starting in Denmark, moving to England, and ending up in the storied streets and cathedrals of Paris, Malone plays a breathless game of duplicity and death, all to claim a prize of untold value. But at what cost?

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Mystery Book Review: Slow Fire by Ken Mercer

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

Slow Fire by Ken Mercer
A Will Magowan Mystery

St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-55835-X (031255835X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-55835-2 (9780312558352)
Publication Date: February 2010
List Price: $25.99

Review: Ken Mercer's debut thriller, Slow Fire, introduces Will Magowan, newly hired police chief of the small northern California town of Haydenville, investigating the unexplained death of a young woman and the curious abundance of methamphetamine circulating throughout the region.

Will had been living a quiet life following his forced exit from the LAPD narcotic division when he's hired by the mayor of Haydenville -- sight unseen -- to be their chief of police. Desperate for a job, but also a change, he accepts and is immediately embroiled in a dispute with the town officials over whether the death of a young woman, found in her kayak on the shore of a local river, is accidental or suspicious. The mayor wants Will to focus on the town's drug problem, but even that causes conflict for Will when he suspects the town's "poet laureate" and general benefactor to be the source of the drugs.

Slow Fire certainly has some of the right fundamental elements for a first-rate thriller -- crisp writing, descriptive narrative and credible dialog, and perfect pacing (notwithstanding the ultra-short chapters favored by the author, some not even a page in length, that are clearly in vogue but annoying nonetheless) -- but three serious flaws mar the final result.

** SPOILER ALERT **

The character of Will Magowan shares some remarkable similarities to Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone, almost to the point of distraction. Both were fired from their jobs with the LAPD (Jesse as a homicide detective for alcohol abuse, Will as a narcotics officer for substance abuse), both are divorced but still in love with their ex-wives (who, at least initially, still play a role in their lives), and both were hired by small communities (Paradise MA for Jesse, Haydenville CA for Will) to be their chief of police. Even their sidekick deputies are virtual clones of each other: Luther "Suitcase" Simpson for Jesse Stone and Thomas "Mr. T." for Will Magowan. Where they differ -- and not in a good way -- is Will's lack of charm and moral compass. At one point he says, "It's still our job to enforce [the law], Thomas. We don't get to pick and choose." Yet that's exactly what he proceeds to do, choosing an "ends justify the means" approach to law enforcement by forging witness statements and killing a suspect. This is a tough character to embrace.

As a fictional thriller, it's probably not unexpected that the plot of Slow Fire might be a little far-fetched. But much of what happens is really hard to believe, from the high-tech, high-production methamphetamine lab in the middle of a national forest (the logistics of supply, maintenance, and distribution are never really explained), to the DEA being willing to shut it down as a public relations stunt but not prosecute the owner of the lab, to the various offices and departments of the US government that are cooperatively and tacitly supporting the owner's criminal venture because of events that took place 40 years ago. (The author does, however, within the context of the story invite Will, and by extension the reader, to look up the history of the events that form the foundation of the story by providing specific references.) Somewhat ironically, the murder mystery that represents a tangential subplot is the most interesting and believable part of the story.

Finally, Will's personal backstory is overly melodramatic. Early on it is learned his young son died while he was on a case. Inserted throughout the text is the simple line "(i wasn't there --)", with the "i" curiously left lowercase, presumably to emphasize how bad Will still feels about it. It is foreshadowed almost from the beginning that a situation will arise when Will will be there. And when it happens, it is so contrived that it weakens the already less than plausible plot.

As the first of a series, maybe the author is doing a little housekeeping, getting some of the character's background details out of the way in Slow Fire. His style lends itself well to thrillers, though; hopefully subsequent books in the series will focus on what could be, and should be, intriguing -- but credible -- tales of life and crime in a small town in northern California.

Special thanks to St. Martin's Minotaur for providing a copy of Slow Fire for this review.

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

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

Synopsis (from the publisher): One morning, Will Magowan opens his mail and finds a mysterious job offer to become the police chief of Haydenville, a tiny town in rural Northern California.

Once a highly decorated LAPD narcotics detective, Will was terminated after a devastating personal tragedy drove him to become addicted to the heroin he was charged with keeping off the streets. Fresh out of rehab but jobless and estranged from his wife, Will now lives alone in an old Airstream trailer on the fringes of L.A.

Out of options, Will accepts the job. After moving to Haydenville, he discovers that the once postcard-perfect town is being corrupted by a criminal influence that threatens to destroy it.

Haydenville’s normally law-abiding citizens begin to erupt in acts of unspeakable violence. Pets are going missing at an alarming rate. Stately Victorian homes are falling into disrepair.

With only a rookie officer at his disposal, Will risks everything in his quest to save Haydenville—entering a labyrinth of dark secrets that have remained buried for almost 40 years.

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Authors on Tour: Paul Harris Visits Novel Works and Cheryl's Book Nook

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 ...

Today, Thursday, March 4th, Paul will be visiting 2 blog sites:

• Novel Works, where Paul is interviewed; and
• Cheryl's Book Nook, where The Secret Keeper is reviewed.

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 siste 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, Authors on Tour: Paul Harris.

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.

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