Sherlock Holmes for Dummies Publishes This Week

We're actually a bit surprised it took this long for this book to come out, but Sherlock Holmes for Dummies publishes this week. Written by Steven Doyle, co-founder of Wessex Press/Gasogene Books, a small press specializing in Sherlock Holmes books, including the Sherlock Holmes Reference Library, the book is described as a comprehensive guide to this important literary figure and his author.

About Sherlock Holmes for Dummies (from the publisher): A classic literary character, Sherlock Holmes has fascinated readers for decades-from his repartee with Dr. Watson and his unparalleled powers of deduction to the settings, themes, and villains of the stories. Now, this friendly guide offers a clear introduction to this beloved figure and his author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, presenting new insight into the detective stories and crime scene analysis that have has made Sherlock Holmes famous.

Inside you'll find easy-to-understand yet thorough information on the characters, recurring themes, and locations, and social context of the Sherlock Holmes stories, the relationship of these stories to literature, and the forensics and detective work they feature.

• A plain-English guide that helps you better understand and enjoy this influential literary character;
• Gain insight on these classic Doyle tales-from the classic Hound of the Baskervilles to the lesser-known short stories to Holmes stories written by other mystery writers;
• Explores the appearance of Sherlock Holmes on film, TV, and stage;
• Discusses Holmes today -- from the ever-expanding network of fans worldwide to story locations that fans can visit.

An overview of the Sherlock Holmes canon can be found on the publisher website as a Sherlock Holmes for Dummies Cheat Sheet.

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Mystery Book Review: Occupied City by David Peace

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

Occupied City by David Peace
The Tokyo Trilogy

Knopf (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-307-26375-4 (0307263754)
ISBN-13: 978-0-307-26375-9 (9780307263759)
Publication Date: February 2010
List Price: $25.95

Review: Based on a true crime committed in 1948 Tokyo, Occupied City by David Peace is for the most part a fascinating retelling of the circumstances surrounding that fateful day when 12 innocent people lost their lives in a bank.

A man posing as a health inspector enters the Teikoku Bank in Tokyo just before closing and announces that its employees have been exposed to dysentery. He possesses an antidote, but they must hurry. The "treatment" is really a fast-acting poison, which kills 12 of the employees and seriously injures 4 others. The man makes off with a substantial sum of money. Hirasawa Sadamichi is arrested and two years later convicted of the murders, attempted murders, and robbery, based in large part on a confession, which he subsequently recants. Sentenced to be hung for his crimes, a campaign to clear his name kept his appeal process going until his death in jail in 1987.

Occupied City consists of twelve "candles" or chapters, each told from a different perspective by a fictional character associated in some way -- sometimes quite tangentially -- with the crime. It can be an exceptionally challenging book to read; fully half the "candles" are written in an atypical, non-narrative manner, including the first one, which is written from the perspective of the victims -- but does provide a foundation for what is to follow. Examples of other chapters include passages from the investigating detective's notebook (written as one long paragraph per entry), letters from an American medical officer to both his wife and commander detailing his investigation into the potential development of biological weapons by the Japanese during the war, newspaper articles and commentary written by a journalist covering the story and its aftermath, and towards the end, chapters each from the man convicted of the crime and someone identified only as "the Killer".

Far more of a literary novel than a mystery, some might be tempted to call Occupied City a tour de force based on its unusual approach to storytelling ... but no doubt many others will be puzzled, if not put off by it. It may help to read the chapters out of sequence; with the exception of the first and the last few chapters, there doesn't seem to be any specific order to the rest, though the author may find it objectionable to read it in this way, tampering with the art, as it were. Still, it is possible to skip ahead if one chapter appears to be particularly daunting, then return to it later; the overall experience is worth the effort.

Special thanks to Random House for providing an ARC of Occupied City for this review.

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

If you are interested in purchasing Occupied City from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): A fierce, exquisitely dark novel that plunges us into post–World War II Occupied Japan in a Rashomon-like retelling of a mass poisoning (based on an actual event), its aftermath, and the hidden wartime atrocities that led to the crime.

On January 26, 1948, a man identifying himself as a public health official arrives at a bank in Tokyo. There has been an outbreak of dysentery in the neighborhood, he explains, and he has been assigned by Occupation authorities to treat everyone who might have been exposed to the disease. Soon after drinking the medicine he administers, twelve employees are dead, four are unconscious, and the “official” has fled ...

Twelve voices tell the story of the murder from different perspectives. One of the victims speaks, for all the victims, from the grave. We read the increasingly mad notes of one of the case detectives, the desperate letters of an American occupier, the testimony of a traumatized survivor. We meet a journalist, a gangster-turned-businessman, an “occult detective,” a Soviet soldier, a well-known painter. Each voice enlarges and deepens the portrait of a city and a people making their way out of a war-induced hell.

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Warner Bros. To Adapt TV Series 77 Sunset Strip as a Theatrical Film

Deadline is reporting that Warner Bros. is bringing the television series 77 Sunset Strip to the big screen as a period piece. Stephen Chin is in talks to write the script with Greg Berlanti (Green Lantern) directing.

The show ran for 6 seasons on ABC from October 1958 through February 1964, and starred Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Stuart "Stu" Bailey and Roger Smith as Jeff Spencer, both former government agents who ran a private detective agency based in a stylish office at 77 Sunset Strip. From its flashy production values and steady stream of popular guest stars to its iconic theme music, it was considered at the time to be one of the coolest shows on television.

The series was based on novels and short stories written by producer Roy Huggins, who introduced the character of Stu Bailey in his 1946 novel The Double Take. (Huggins would later go on to develop and produce several crime dramas, including The Rockford Files.)

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Nominations for 2010 Lambda Literary Awards Announced

The Lambda Literary Foundation today announced the finalists for the 2010 Lambda Literary Award for books written by gay and lesbian authors and published in 2009. Awards are given in many categories, including mystery. The finalists in this category are:

Gay Men's Mystery:
◊ All Lost Things by Josh Aterovis (P. D. Publishing)
◊ The Killer of Orchids by Ralph Ashworth (State Street Press)
◊ Murder in the Garden District by Greg Herren (Alyson Books)
◊ Straight Lies by Rob Byrnes (Kensington)
◊ What We Remember by Michael Thomas Ford (Kensington)

Lesbian Mystery:
◊ Command of Silence by Paulette Callen (Spinsters Ink)
◊ Death of a Dying Man by J. M. Redmann (Bold Strokes Books)
◊ From Hell to Breakfast by Joan Opyr (Blue Feather Books)
◊ The Mirror and the Mask by Ellen Hart  (St. Martin's Minotaur)
◊ Toasted by Josie Gordon (Bella Books)

A complete list of all finalists is available here. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Thursday, May 27th, 2010, in New York City.

indicates a review by Mysterious Reviews.

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Mystery Book Review: Watchlist by Jeffery Deaver

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

Watchlist by Jeffery Deaver
Non-series

Vanguard Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59315-559-X (159315559X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59315-559-9 (9781593155599)
Publication Date: January 2010
List Price: $25.95

Review: Based on an idea by Jeffery Deaver, Watchlist consists of two "serial" novellas, each chapter of which is written by a different author. Deaver wrote the opening and closing chapters of The Chopin Manuscript and The Copper Bracelet, both of which feature a group of characters called the "Volunteers", a covert government group led by Harold Middleton.

The Chopin Manuscript introduces Middleton, a musicologist retired from active service, in Poland to authenticate a previously unknown Chopin manuscript. As he's leaving the country to return to the US, he's detained by Polish authorities investigating the murder of the man who gave him the manuscript. Separately, the dead man's niece, Felicia Kaminski, living in Italy, narrowly escapes a murder attempt on her life, and hides out at the shop of an old family friend, who is in possession of a previously unknown Mozart manuscript that he was about to send off to Middleton. Their paths cross in the US as both are chased by a name known as Faust who is after the manuscripts ... not for their inherent value as musical treasures, but for the secrets encoded within their notes.

The Chopin Manuscript was co-written by Deaver and (in order of chapters written) David Hewson, James Grady, S. J. Rozan, Erica Spindler, John Ramsey Miller, David Corbett, John Gilstrap, Joseph Finder, Jim Fusilli, Peter Spiegelman, Ralph Pezzullo, Lisa Scottoline, P. J. Parrish, and Lee Child.

Middleton finds himself drawn into an international terrorist plot in the sequel, The Copper Bracelet. A code name for an efficient method of making heavy water developed by the Nazis but presumably destroyed at the end of World War II, knowledge of the "Copper Bracelet" would give rogue nations the ability to develop nuclear weapons quickly and inexpensively. But the man who may hold the key to the formula, Devras Sikari, is also a target himself ... with different factions having differing agendas as to how to use the knowledge and to what end.

The Copper Bracelet was co-written by Deaver and (in order of chapters written) Gayle Lynds, David Hewson, Jim Fusilli, John Gilstrap, Joseph Finder, Lisa Scottoline, David Corbett, Linda Barnes, Jenny Siler, David Liss, P. J. Parrish, Brett Battles, Lee Child, Jon Land, and James Phelan.

Though both stories are exciting, The Chopin Manuscript is decidedly the better of the two, its scope more focused and the plot better suited to the serial format. The Copper Bracelet also seems to assume knowledge gained from, or at the very least information provided by, its predecessor. Both, however, tend to generate suspense and thrills using plot twists that have little foundation.

What is interesting is how the various writing styles of the authors, some of which are markedly different from each other, come together to form a cohesive thriller. Given that each author wants to put their own spin on the story, and each seems to have been assigned a specific task (introduce this character or setting, advance the plot in this way or that, add this twist, etc.), it works surprisingly well. And, considering that most thrillers are at least 100 pages too long anyway, keeping these novellas to around 200 pages works to their advantage.

Special thanks to Meryl L. Moss Media Relations for providing a copy of Watchlist for this review.

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

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

Synopsis (from the publisher): A unique collaboration by twenty-one of the world’s greatest thriller writers including Jeffery Deaver, who conceived the characters and set the plot in motion; in turn, other authors each wrote a chapter and Deaver then completed what he started, bringing each novel to its startling conclusion.

The Chopin Manuscript

Former war crimes investigator Harold Middleton possesses a previously unknown score by Frédéric Chopin. But he is unaware that, locked within its handwritten notes, lies a secret that now threatens the lives of thousands of Americans.

The Copper Bracelet

Harold Middleton returns in this explosive sequel to The Chopin Manuscript as he’s drawn into an international terror plot that threatens to send India and Pakistan into full-scale nuclear war.

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eHarlequin Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense Titles for April 2010

eHarlequin.com has released the April 2010 titles in their Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense series. Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense books combine suspense, romance, hope and faith to create a unique page-turning series that today’s readers love. To purchase any of the books below, click on the book title. (Previous months titles can be found on the backlist page.)

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On Thin Ice by Linda Hall

Twenty years ago—two weeks before their intended wedding day—tragedy tore Megan Brooks and Alec Black apart. They haven't seen each other since. Someone has been watching them, though … and attacking the members of the would-be bridal party. Megan knows she must confront her past to find answers.

But coming home means facing Alec, now the sheriff of Whisper Lake, Maine. He's the last man Megan wants to see again—yet he's the only one who can keep her safe when the killer comes for the bride.

— ◊ —

Calculated Revenge by Jill Elizabeth Nelson

It's been eighteen years since Laney Thompson's sister was abducted and killed, but the pain Laney feels has never faded. And now the murderer is back, taunting Laney with mementos of her sister and threatening Laney's young daughter. School principal Noah Ryder is her best hope for protecting her daughter—if she can convince the former investigator to take the case. As the threats accelerate, a string of clues leads Laney to uncover old secrets. But without Noah's help, how can she piece together the puzzle before her child—like her sister—is lost to a killer's revenge?

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Mountain Peril by Sandra Robbins

According to an anonymous message, a young woman is going to be murdered in the North Carolina mountains. When a body is found, Danielle Tyler is shocked to learn it's her student—the third person in her life to meet an untimely death. Is she next? From disturbing notes and roses left in her office to cold-blooded murder, someone means deadly business. Detective Jack Denton—the stalwart lawman who makes her pulse race—vows to find the deranged madman, but Danielle doesn't dare let him too close. Especially when death seems to be the destiny of anyone she cares about …

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Deadly Vows by Shirlee McCoy

Olivia Jarrod was newly placed in witness protection when she discovered she was pregnant. First rule of the program: no contact with anyone from her former life. That includes her estranged husband, Ford Jensen—the unknowing father of her unborn child. Despite their rocky marriage, Olivia still loves him deeply. And when Ford shocks her by tracking her down, she knows the mobster pursuing her can't be far behind. But now their baby's very life depends on both of them staying alive—and together.

— ◊ —

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

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

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Tom Selleck Set To Star in CBS Crime Drama Reagan's Law

Yesterday we reported the CBS had finally set the broadcast date for No Remorse, the 6th Jesse Stone made-for-television movie based on a character created by Robert B. Parker and starring Tom Selleck as the Police Chief of Paradise (MA). Now The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the actor may be returning to series television.

According to the article, Selleck is nearing a deal to play the lead role as NYPD Police Chief Michael in a multi-generational CBS drama formerly (and may still be) titled Reagan's Law. Michael, a widower, lives with his father, Patrick (played by Len Cariou), who was also once the chief of police. Michael's son Brian (Donnie Wahlberg), a former captain in Iraq, is a police detective.

The pilot for the series is expected to begin shooting later this month.

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Mystery Book Review: The Adventures of Jack Lime by James Leck

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of The Adventures of Jack Lime by James Leck. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

The Adventures of Jack Lime by James Leck
A Jack Lime Mystery

Kids Can Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-55453-365-1 (1554533651)
ISBN-13: 978-1-55453-365-7 (9781554533657)
Publication Date: February 2010
List Price: $16.95

Review: High school student and private investigator Jack Lime investigates three cases of teenage crime in James Leck's The Adventures of Jack Lime.

This line of work isn't all glitz and glamour, that's for sure. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it's dreary, dirty and dull. It's about rooting around in dumpsters and eating a stale granola bar you found in your pocket for breakfast instead of your grandma's buttermilk pancakes because you're waiting for the morning paper to show up, and the kicker is, you're not going to get to read it.

Jack Lime -- detective, private eye, gumshoe, last resort -- solves problems for people. In "The Case of the Broken Lock", he looks into the mysterious circumstances surrounding a missing bike; in "The Case of the Daily Telegraph", he's nearly stumped by a nefarious blackmail scheme; and in "The Case of the Big Dupe", he relates one of his first big cases after arriving at Iona High, exposing a gambling ring.

Each of these entertaining cases is crafted in the style of hard-boiled crime fiction, with lots of descriptive statements ("I woke up in a fog as thick as a three-day-old cup of joe"), plenty of thugs ("Bucky smiled, started to turn away, then spun around and slammed his fist into my gut like a runaway locomotive"), and beautiful girls to trip him up ("I thought I could get hooked on a girl like her if I wasn't careful, and I wasn't planning on being careful"). The mystery plots are well developed, and, though featuring older high school students and some PG-13 elements, are written at a slightly younger, middle school level.

The one aspect that doesn't work is portraying Jack as a narcoleptic. Not only is it unnecessary -- it doesn't add anything substantive to his character, and it doesn't play into any of the plots in a meaningful way -- it comes across as more intrusive than anything else. Possibly intended as a way to portray Jack as flawed, though, in this case, a character flaw would be certainly preferable to a physical one, but more probably as a way to make Jack more sympathetic ... but to whom -- other characters or the reader? -- isn't clear. Still, this minor objection aside, Jack Lime is a likeable PI and his cases credible and interesting; a sequel to The Adventures of Jack Lime would be most welcome.

Special thanks to Raab Associates for providing an ARC of The Adventures of Jack Lime for this review.

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

If you are interested in purchasing The Adventures of Jack Lime from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Meet Jack Lime, private investigator, who solves problems for his fellow Iona High students. Sometimes he falls for the dames who hire him, sometimes he falls in the river and sometimes he falls asleep (he’s narcoleptic). But rest assured that whether he’s tracking down a missing banana-seat bike or a kidnapped hamster, or cracking open a trivia tournament betting ring, Lime will follow every lead.

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eHarlequin Silhouette Romantic Suspense Titles for April 2010

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

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Unmasking the Mercenary by Jennifer Morey

"I'm here for revenge."

Nothing's going to sway Rem D'Evereux from his mission of vengeance. Especially not the beautiful intel operative who's just cut in on his turf—and put her life in jeopardy. If the only way to protect her is to keep her by his side, day and night, so be it.

Haley Engen's counterterror work means everything to her, until she glimpses the man behind the mercenary's ruthless reputation. She knows what it's like to be haunted by the past. As passion explodes in the midst of danger, she gives Rem a stark choice. Revenge, or the woman who loves him for everything he is …

— ◊ —

Secretive Stranger by Jennifer Greene

"Shouldn't you be dead?"

It's not enough that Sophie Campbell discovers her neighbor's body. His dead ringer has to show up at her doorstep. But this man's no ghost … the instant attraction that sparks between them is all too real.

College professor Cord Pruitt wants answers about his brother's murder. The woman downstairs must have seen something. But when Cord lays eyes on Sophie, all he wants to do is take her in his arms and protect her. With a killer on the loose, and all signs pointing toward Sophie as the next target, that's just what he will have to do …

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Come To Me by Linda Winstead Jones

Of all the P.I. offices in all the world …

Why did Lizzie Porter have to waltz into his? Wary loner Sam Travers always had a soft spot for Lizzie—and now she's grown up, with the curves to prove it. But to move on his old partner's daughter would be oh-so-wrong …

Except that Lizzie won't take no for an answer. She's discovered that she might have a half sister. And she's not going to let anyone stop her on her search—even Sam!

The plot thickens when someone takes a shot at Lizzie, and Sam volunteers to move in with her—just to protect her, of course. And as they puzzle out the truth, he wonders just when he'll dare move out …

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Her Baby's Bodyguard by Ingrid Weaver

Special Forces sergeant Jack Norton's mission: to safely see brilliant Russian scientist Dr. Eva Petrova to America. The unwitting pawn in an international biowarfare plot was hiding one minor contingency—her infant daughter. Jack didn't do relationships well, never mind kids. So how was it these two were planting themselves firmly under his skin?

Eva Petrova was no stranger to putting up emotional barriers—she'd done it all her life. But when she saw Jack's softer side, she wondered if they were missing out on something more explosive than this mission. Only one way to find out …

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

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