New Hardcover Mysteries for May 2010

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books has updated its list of new hardcover mysteries with books scheduled for publication in May 2010. Please note that some titles may publish early (and may already be available) and some may be delayed, published at a later date.

Below we're listing those authors with returning series characters, new series characters, and non-series or stand-alone mysteries in separate sections. All titles are available on our May new mystery books page (which will become the default home page for the site on May 1st).

• Authors with mysteries featuring returning series characters (in parentheses) this month:

Gerry Boyle (Jack McMorrow 9th), Dale Brown (Patrick McLanahan 16th), Lee Child (Jack Reacher 14th), Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston (Pendergast 10th), Gabriel Cohen (Jack Leightner 4th), Meredith Cole (Lydia McKenzie 2nd), Bill Crider and Clyde Wilson (Ted Stephens 2nd), David Downing (John Russell 3rd), Arthur Conan Doyle and Kelley Jones (Sherlock Holmes Graphic Novel 2nd), Robert Dugoni (David Sloane 3rd), Anne Emery (Monty Collins 5th), Diane Fanning (Lucinda Pierce 3rd), Barbara Fister (Anni Koskinen 2nd), Earlene Fowler (Benni Harper 14th), Anthea Fraser (Rona Parish 7th), Elizabeth George (Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers 15th), Chris Grabenstein (John Ceepak 6th), Andrew Grant (David Trevellyan 2nd), Susanna Gregory (Thomas Chaloner 5th), Andrew Gross (Ty Hauck 3rd), Barbara Hambly (Benjamin January 9th), Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse, Southern Vampire 10th), L. C. Hayden (Harry Bronson 4th), David Hewson (Nic Costa 8th), Maria Hudgins (Dotsy Lamb 3rd), James Patrick Hunt (George Hastings 4th), Adrian Hyland (Emily Tempest 2nd), Quintin Jardine (Primavera Blackstone 2nd), Craig Johnson (Walt Longmire 6th), Jim Kelly (Peter Shaw 2nd), Ken Kuhlken (Hickey Family 6th), Stieg Larsson (Millennium Trilogy 3rd), Donna Leon (Guido Brunetti 19th), Laura Levine (Jaine Austen 9th), William Martin (Peter Fallow 4th), Kathleen McGowan (Maureen Paschal 3rd), Amy Myers (Tom Wasp 2nd), Barbara Nadel (Cetin Ikmen 12th), Nick Oldham (Henry Christie 14th), Liz Osborne (Robyn Kelly 2nd), Barry Ozeroff (Ben Geller 3rd), Robert B. Parker (Western 3rd), Stefanie Pintoff (Simon Ziele 2nd), Rosemary Rowe (Libertus 11th), Pauline Rowson (Andy Horton Marine 5th), John Sandford (Lucas Davenport 20th), Kate Sedley (Roger the Chapman 19th), Sally Spencer (Monika Paniatowski 2nd), Peter Steiner (Louis Morgan 3rd), Olen Steinhauer (Yalta Boulevard 6th), Scott Turow (Kindle County 8th), Blair Underwood (Tennyson Hardwick 3rd), Elaine Viets (Helen Hawthorne, Dead-End Job 9th), Shirley Wells (Jill Kennedy and DCI Max Trentham 4th).

• Authors with mysteries introducing new series characters (in parentheses) this month:

Deborah Coonts (Lucky O'Toole), Paul Doiron (Mike Bowditch), Christopher Farnsworth (Nathaniel Cade), Steven Gore (Graham Gage), Susan Oleksiw (Anita Ray), Marc Strange (Orwell Brennan).

• Authors with non-series or stand-alone mysteries this month:

Brunonia Barry, David Black, Robert M. Brown Jr., Ryan Brown, Jeffrey A. Cohen, Max Allan Collins and Mickey Spillane, Denise Dietz, Nicci French, Michael Gruber, Richard Hawke, Ken Hodgson, James W. Huston, Diane Janes, Bernard Knight, Chris Knopf, Tom Knox, Michael Lister, Emily St. John Mandel, Stephen Mertz, Nicola Monaghan, Ted Mooney, Boyd Morrison, Thomas Perry, Nancy Pickard, Theodore W. Pietsch, Brent Pilkey, Piero Rivolta, Patrick Robinson, M. J. Rose, Laura Joh Rowland, Lyndon Stacey, Michael R. Stevens, Jon Talton, Peter Temple, Janice M. Van Dyck, Emily Winslow.

For more information on any of these titles, please visit the May new mysteries page on our website. If you're interested in new paperbacks, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where you can discover a library of new mysteries, also updated with May 2010 releases.

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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Mystery Book Review: Bellfield Hall by Anna Dean

Bellfield Hall, or The Observations of Miss Dido Kent
by Anna Dean
A Dido Kent Mystery

St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-56294-2 (0312562942)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-56294-6 (9780312562946)
Publication Date: February 2010
List Price: $23.99

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Review: Richard Montague mysteriously disappears from his own engagement ball, leaving a note for his fiancée, Catherine, that he is ruined and she should distance herself from him. Catherine summons her clever and intelligent aunt, Miss Dido Kent, to Bellfield Hall to discover what has happened to Richard. Loyal and in love, Catherine refuses to break off the engagement, at least until she understands her fiancée’s reasons. Upon arrival, Dido discovers there are actually two mysteries as a dead body has turned up in the garden shrubbery. She also plans to find out if the two incidents are related. With her intelligence, keen mind and ability to ferret out details from servants, villagers and the other guests at Bellfield Hall alike, Dido Kent will soon become a favorite sleuth.

The action takes place in 1805, and Anna Dean’s writing has an old-fashioned flair to match. The author doesn’t stint on characters either. There’s Tom Lomax who is courting two wealthy sisters at the same time; the card-obsessed lady of the manor; and a colonel who thinks of marrying one of the sisters but is always looking for Jack the servant as well. And they all have something to hide.

Bellfield Hall, the first in a series, is a methodical mystery, with some of the clues coming from Dido’s letters to her sister and the rest from action on the estate. Few of the wealthy visitors take notice of the maiden aunt who is able to pluck information from them with her seemingly innocent questions. Dean has clearly done her research and deposits her readers neatly on the English country estate whether it’s touring a portrait gallery, scoping out gravel near the summerhouse or taking a brisk walk into the village. She paces the story beautifully giving enough clues to temper the slower pace. This slower pace also gives time for the reader to think out clues alongside Dido and have time to appreciate the Dean’s language and her detail for this Austin-esque era. Some mysteries move so quickly, one doesn’t have time to appreciate what one is reading, and that’s not the case here. Fans of cozy mysteries in general and historical mysteries will both find Anna Dean’s book a delight.

Special thanks to Katherine Petersen for contributing her review of Bellfield Hall, or The Observations of Miss Dido Kent.

Review Copyright © 2010 — Katherine Petersen — All Rights Reserved — Reprinted with Permission

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Synopsis (from the publisher): 1805. An engagement party is taking place for Mr Richard Montague, son of wealthy landowner Sir Edgar Montague, and his fiancee Catherine. During a dance with his beloved, a strange thing happens: a man appears at Richard's shoulder and appears to communicate something to him without saying a word. Instantly breaking off the engagement, he rushes off to speak to his father, never to be seen again. Distraught with worry, Catherine sends for her spinster aunt, Miss Dido Kent, who has a penchant for solving mysteries. Catherine pleads with her to find her fiance and to discover the truth behind his disappearance. It's going to take a lot of logical thinking to untangle the complex threads of this multi-layered mystery, and Miss Dido Kent is just the woman to do it.

Originally published in the UK as A Moment of Silence.

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Mysterious Reviews is your source for the latest mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime novel reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

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Prime Time Crime Pilot Status Updates for the 2010 Fall Season

Over the past few months we've reported on new crime dramas and other mystery-themed television shows that the broadcast networks are considering for the upcoming fall season. There are also more than a handful of remakes in the works. Now with the official schedule announcements only a few weeks away, The Live Feed blog on The Hollywood Reporting is providing a status update for several of the series pilots.

On NBC, the remake of The Rockford Files is considered a "near-lock" to be on the schedule, as is J. J. Abrams' spy drama Undercovers.

Over at CBS, another remake, this one of Hawaii Five-O, has also "sealed the deal". Less certain are pilots for the Criminal Minds spin-off and the CIA drama Chaos.

Fox's U. S. Marshals drama Breakout Kings "continues to generate buzz", but the con-man drama Midland may not fit into the network's brand.

On ABC, the crime drama 187 is "looking very strong" along with the Dana Delaney-led medical crime drama Body of Evidence.

Finally, on the CW, the remake of La Femme Nikita (this time titled just Nikita) has turned out "very strong".

Fall schedules for the networks are typically announced in mid- to late-May.

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Mr. E. Reviews: Rosemary & Thyme Series One

Rosemary & Thyme Series One
Director: Various

Original air date(s): 08/31/2003 to 10/03/2003.
DVD release: 06/14/2005.
Studio: Acorn Media.

Recurring character(s): Rosemary Boxer (Felicity Kendal), Laura Thyme (Pam Ferris).

Rating: Not Rated.
Running time: 294 minutes.

Review: I had seen but one episode of the British mystery series Rosemary & Thyme many years ago, remembering enjoying it, but somehow never got around to watching any of the others. Deciding to start at the very beginning, as it were, I ordered the six episodes that comprise the first season of the series.

Rosemary & Thyme stars Felicity Kendal and Pam Harris as, respectively, Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme, who meet in the first episode, are both at a crossroads in their lives and discover their shared love of gardening and start a landscaping business called Rosemary & Thyme. They are the only two recurring characters throughout the series, though Laura Thyme's son, police officer Matthew Thyme, shows up from time to time.

The mysteries presented in these six episodes aren't terribly demanding, requiring more thoughtful deduction on the part of the amateur sleuths (and viewers) than action. Both actors bring an incredible range of emotion to their characters; by the third episode they're comfortable with each other and us with them. And the photography is stunning, with most episodes set at manor houses or other areas with broad expanses of flora and fauna. Given that this is a garden-themed mystery, it's not surprising that the murders and/or their resolutions have something horticultural involved. Still, it's interesting how the writers have incorporated these elements into the stories.

The episodes are short, averaging under 50 minutes each, yet quite a lot happens, and though relatively little time is spent on set up or resolution, given how well the story plays out, this doesn't seem to matter much. All are murder mysteries, and for the most part, the writers play fair with the viewers in presenting all the clues needed to solve them. There are the occasional leap-of-faith scenarios, but really not enough of them to quibble about. One doesn't need to know anything about plants to enjoy the series; any specific knowledge that may be required is presented through either Rosemary or Laura.

Only 22 episodes of Rosemary & Thyme were filmed, but based on the six in the first season, I heartily recommend this series.

Episode information (from the studio):

"And No Birds Sing": While Rosemary Boxer investigates some diseased trees at the home of an old friend, Laura Thyme is reeling from being recently abandoned by her husband for a much younger woman. Leaving her home behind she finds herself in the same hotel as Rosemary, and together they uncover a sinister plot concerning Rosemary's ill friend.

"Arabica and the Early Spider": Working together as landscapers, Rosemary and Laura are enlisted by an aging rock star to help renovate the grounds of his newly acquired mansion. However when the singer is found dead and the skeleton of a horse is found nearby, the pair discover a past rivalry is rearing its head once more.

"The Language of Flowers": The two gardeners are asked by the Caldecott family to restore a grand water cascade in the grounds of their mansion-turned-health spa. Stumped by the long decayed mechanics of the feature, Rosemary and Laura soon realize all is not well: a killer is on the loose and family ties are the motive behind a murder.

"Sweet Angelica": Trying to uncover the source of disease in the lawn of a special language college, Rosemary and Laura are shocked to find a dead body at the roadside nearby. A ceremonial knife causes a stir at the school and everything appears to be centered on Angelica, one of the school's students.

"A Simple Plot": Rosemary takes Laura to see an old academic friend of hers, who is having trouble with his allotment. Flowers are dying at random and he suspects the nearby building site is to blame. A political dispute soon becomes evident and after the professor is killed, Rosemary finds herself in danger.

"The Tree of Death": Restoring a churchyard for an upcoming fair, Rosemary and Laura befriend the local vicar, but soon become entangled in a murder enquiry when a man is found impaled by an arrow to an ancient yew tree where they are working. The suspects are many, and it is up to the two gardeners to save the day.

Final note: Three novel tie-ins were written for Rosemary & Thyme. The first, in 2004, was based on the pilot episode "And No Birds Sing", while the second, in 2005, was based on final episode of the first season, "The Tree of Death". The third book, "Memory of Water", was based on the opening episode of the second season.

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Mr. E. Reviews is your source for mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime drama reviews of television and film.

Copyright © 2010 — Omnimystery — All Rights Reserved

Mystery Book Review: Going, Gone by Laura Crum

Going, Gone
by Laura Crum
A Gail McCarthy Mystery

Perseverance Press (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-880284-98-7 (1880284987)
ISBN-13: 978-1-880284-98-8 (9781880284988)
Publication Date: April 2010
List Price: $14.95

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Review: Horse veterinarian Gail McCarthy travels with her husband and young son to the Sierra Nevadas for week of camping on an old friend's ranch only to learn he's under arrest for murder in Going, Gone, the 11th mystery in this series by Laura Crum.

Lonny Peterson is accused of murdering two people, a brother and sister who operate a local livestock auction house. A witness places Lonny at the scene of the crime, and his gun was the murder weapon. Gail can't believe Lonny capable of murder, and for that matter, neither can anyone else. Lonny doesn't deny being there, nor does he dispute ownership of the gun, which he says he hadn't seen in months and anyone could have taken. Inquiring about the murder victims, she discovers nearly all the local residents have intertwining relationships, either personal or professional, and several of them may have had a motive for murder. But the real question remains: which of the brother and sister was the intended victim, with the other happening to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or did someone have a reason to kill both of them?

Crum has a real talent for painting beautiful backdrops for her novels, with the wide open expanses of the Sierra Nevada foothills in Going, Gone being no exception. She can also craft thrilling action scenes, including a heart-stopping one that comes near the end of this book. But the murder mystery plot here isn't all that strong, in part because, rather inexplicably, much of what will constitute the ending is given away about midway through. Gail asks all the right questions to all the right people at just the right time so there isn't much surprise at the who and why.

Crum often includes long philosophical passages on the meaning of life, something of a recurring theme in her books. Though they have little bearing on the main storyline, they are interesting and provide a unique perspective into the character of Gail McCarthy. In Going, Gone, she is mourning the loss of a cherished dog. When she sees the body of a cat lying alongside the road, killed by a passing car, she asks "Did his spirit still exist somewhere, somehow?" And then ...

Why was life so? Why not something tranquil, harmonious, gentle, stable? Why not something that stayed? What good God could possibly have created this brief, brutal, transitory, painful experience, spirit wedded to body for just long enough to yearn for permanence, to learn to love others who were equally impermanent?

Relatively short at less than 200 pages, Going, Gone can easily be read in one sitting. Though the mystery itself may be somewhat disappointing, the journey is a satisfying one.

Special thanks to Perseverance Press for providing an ARC of Going, Gone for this review.

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

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Synopsis (from the publisher): Horse vet Gail McCarthy's life turns stranger than fiction when her old boyfriend, Lonny Peterson, is arrested for murder-by none other than Gail's childhood friend, Bret Boncantini, now a sheriff's deputy in a Sierra foothills town. Lonny is accused of the murder of two local livestock auctioneers, one his girlfriend and the other her brother. Both Gail and Bret are sure of Lonny's innocence, and decide to investigate. As they begin to turn up evidence and two more murders occur, the trail leads to Gail's home on the Central California coast. And as Gail closes in on the answer, the ruthless murderer may decide she needs to be eliminated, too.

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Mysterious Reviews is your source for the latest mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime novel reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

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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.

The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan. A sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Recommended for readers aged 12 and older. Lexile measure: 900L. Reviewed by a 6th grade student who called it "[A] great book about friendship, and the importance of never abandoning friends -- even in hard times." She added, "I personally thought it was an amazing page-turner suspense thriller that I couldn't put down until you read through it all (which is what I did in one night!)."

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

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Games of Mystery: Little Noir Stories and The Case of the Missing Girl, New from Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery casual game from Big Fish Games released today and available to BFG Club members. 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.

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Lured to an abandonned building by a puzzling picture, private investigators Anton Muller and Amelia Chandler step in to solve the mystery and find a missing girl. Track down clues as you follow Mulder and Chandler through a multi-layered investigation where nothing is quite black or white. Engage with the shadowy suspects sharing a roof for one purpose: delivering an unpredictable tale fraught with secrets, twists and mystery.

Be seduced into the dark, stylized pleasures of Little Noir Stories -- a beautifully rendered world where every hidden clue and dialogue helps piece the case together.

Also available: Little Noir Stories: The Case of the Missing Girl Game Walkthrough.

Little Noir Stories: The Case of the Missing Girl may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (137.81 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

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Games of Mystery is your source for mystery-themed video, electronic, and board games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations!

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Winners of the Reviewers' Choice Awards Announced

The winners of the annual Reviewers' Choice Awards have been announced by RT Book Reviews. The nominees and winners of these awards, given in many categories, are selected by a staff of over 50 reviewers representing the readers' voice in the women's fiction industry.

The winners in the Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller category are (for books published in 2009):

◊ Amateur Sleuth: Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke (Kensington, October 2009)
◊ Contemporary Mystery: Kill For Me by Karen Rose (Grand Central, February 2009)
◊ First Mystery: A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield  (St. Martin's Minotaur, August 2009)
◊ Historical Mystery: What Remains of Heaven by C. S. Harris (NAL, November 2009)
◊ PI / Police Procedural Novel: A Darker Domain by Val McDermid  (Harper, February 2009)
◊ Suspense / Thriller: The Messenger by Jan Burke (Simon & Schuster, January 2009)

 indicates a review by Mysterious Reviews.

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Mystery Book Review: The Case of the Amazing Zelda by Lewis B. Montgomery

The Case of the Amazing Zelda
by Lewis B. Montgomery
The Milo & Jazz Mysteries

The Kane Press (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-57565-296-X (157565296X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-57565-296-2 (9781575652962)
Publication Date: July 2009
List Price: $6.95

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Review: Detectives in training Milo and Jazz are skeptical of a young girl's pet psychic powers and set out to prove she is for real ... or not ... in The Case of the Amazing Zelda, the fourth early chapter mystery in this series by Lewis B. Montgomery for young sleuths aged 5 to 7.

The Amazing Zelda really can read the minds of pets -- or so it seems. She accurately predicts a number of things that turn out to be true, including the disappearance of Jazz's pet pig, Bitsy. Jazz is unwilling to believe the Amazing Zelda's powers and confronts her, accusing her of pignapping. But when Zelda tells her Bitsy is safe at home, and she is, Jazz's doubts disappear. Still, Milo isn't convinced. Relying on a lesson from world-famous private eye Dash Marlowe, which teaches them to Predict and Test, he comes up with a way to determine once and for all the psychic ability of the Amazing Zelda.

The Case of the Amazing Zelda is quite entertaining, but is also thinly plotted, even for a children's book. To be sure, it is clever in places and at times quite humorous, yet there's a sense that the book is more of a collection of scenes loosely tied together rather than a cohesive story. The subplot (if such a literary device can exist in an early reader book) involving Spencer and his parrot, for example, seems more extraneous than integral. Kids aren't likely to draw these fine distinctions, however, and will enjoy tagging along with Milo and Jazz as they "predict and test" their case against the Amazing Zelda.

The book concludes with several pages of brain teasers, puzzles, and a mini-mystery to solve.

Special thanks to The Kane Press for providing a copy of The Case of the Amazing Zelda for this review.

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

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Synopsis (from the publisher): There’s a psychic in town—a pet psychic! Is the Amazing Zelda really as amazing as she seems? Milo and Jazz are on the case!

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Mysterious Reviews is your source for the latest mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime novel reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

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Mystery Book Review: Revenge for Old Times' Sake by Kris Neri

Revenge for Old Times' Sake
by Kris Neri
A Tracy Eaton Mystery

Cherokee McGhee (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-9799694-5-X (097996945X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9799694-5-4 (9780979969454)
Publication Date: March 2010
List Price: $16.95

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Review: Crime novelist Tracy Easton has a real-life murder mystery on her hands when the dead body of her husband's boss is found floating in her pool in Revenge for Old Times' Sake, the third mystery in this series by Kris Neri.

Tracy's husband Drew, a lawyer with Slaughter, Cohen (and a long list of other partners with their names on the door), had just concluded a high profile trial with lead attorney Ian Dragger -- with a surprise acquittal for their client, Skippy Sullivan, head of Decency and Order in Life and on Television, DOLT for short -- when she finds him punching his law partner in the nose, a news reporter's photographer conveniently handy to document the scene. Later that night, Tracy finds Dragger in their pool ... dead. Naturally, the authorities suspect Drew, but Tracy quickly learns that Dragger had a long list of enemies, from opponents in the courtroom to celebrities in the media to his own wife, any or all of whom would be happy to dance on his grave. Together with her mother, actress Martha Collins, and mother-in-law, Tracy is determined to clear her husband's name ... and to take whatever steps necessary to do it.

Revenge for Old Times' Sake is filled with colorful, animated characters, exaggerated for effect but just short of being caricatures. The situations are equally magnified, replete with hyperbolic statements that shouldn't be taken seriously ... and aren't. But probably the most appealing aspect of the book takes the form of Tracy's mother, Martha, whose wry humor won't fail to bring a smile to even the most cynical mystery reader. After Tracy finds Dragger in the pool and Drew offers to notify the police, Martha says, "Since when do you follow rules? Next time, Tracy, be bold -- don't tell them. It just makes it harder on everyone." There are also numerous film references that are fittingly appropriate to the given circumstances; the following exchange takes place later in the book:

My eyes drifted down to the pool. I couldn't believe what I saw there. I closed my eyes, and then quickly reopened them. But the vision remained.

"Mother, come here. Do you see what I see?"

She walked to my side and looked out. "I see dead people."

Thus demonstrating that the movies truly were her only frame of reference. But she was right. Once again, a stiff was doing laps in my pool.

Despite the "dead people", it's easy to forget that Revenge for Old Times' Sake is, indeed, a murder mystery, the story frequently overshadowed by the characters, situations, and dialog. Still, it's light and entertaining and not too demanding; a perfect summer read.

Special thanks to Cherokee McGhee for providing a copy of Revenge for Old Times' Sake for this review.

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

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Synopsis (from the publisher): Free-spirited Tracy cheers when her stuffy husband, Drew, loosens up enough to rearrange the nose of his secretive boss, Ian Dragger. But Drew's timing couldn't be worse. When Ian is found floating face down in the Eatons' pool, Drew is the prime suspect. Yet Ian made enemies like the mint makes money, and other suspects abound, starting with Ian's wife, who was at odds with her husband's affluent lifestyle, not to mention the rumored affair, and sleazy journalist Nick Wickerson, of "Nick Wick's Sin City" TV fame, whom Ian humiliated in court.

Still, Tracy expects to clear Drew in short order. But that's before help arrives -- in the form of her own mother, over-the-top movie actress Martha Collins, and her rigid-with-dignity mother-in-law, Charlotte Eaton. And when the mothers get together, the fireworks go off. Obstacles mount higher still when Drew's ex-flame, attorney CeeCee Payne, deals herself into the game. But CeeCee's peculiar behavior raises too many questions. Does she want Drew back? Or is CeeCee after revenge, since her actions threaten to condemn him to a life behind bars.

When the bodies in the Eaton pool start stacking up like timber in a logging camp, Tracy knows that nothing less than her wildest antics will do. But as the blows keep coming Drew's way, she fears that even her craziness won't be enough to save him.

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Mysterious Reviews is your source for the latest mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime novel reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

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Short Lists for 2010 Arthur Ellis Awards Announced

The short lists for the 2010 Arthur Ellis Awards have been announced by the Crime Writers of Canada organization. These awards, in seven categories (one new this year), recognize excellence in Canadian crime writing. The short list titles are:

Best Novel:
◊ Aloha, Candy Hearts by Anthony Bidulka (Insomniac Press)
◊ Arctic Blue Death by R. J. Harlick (RendezVous Crime)
◊ The Finger's Twist by Lee Lamothe (Ravenstone)
◊ Death Spiral by James W. Nichol (McArthur)
◊ High Chicago by Howard Shrier (Random House)

Best First Novel:
◊ The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley  (Doubleday)
◊ The Cold Light of Mourning by Elizabeth Duncan (St. Martin's Minotaur)
◊ Weight of Stones by C. B. Forrest (RendezVous Crime)
◊ A Magpie's Smile by Eugene Meese (NeWest Press)
◊ Darkness at the Stroke of Noon by Dennis Richard Murphy  (HarperCollins)

Best Juvenile:
◊ Haunted by Barbara Haworth-Attard (HarperCollins)
◊ Not Suitable for Family Viewing by Vicki Grant (HarperCollins)
◊ Homicide Related by Norah McClintock (Red Deer Press)
◊ The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade (HarperCollins)
◊ The Uninvited by Tim Wynne-Jones (Candlewick)

Best Unpublished (new award this year):
◊ This Cage of Bones by Pam Barnsley
◊ Confined Space by Deryn Collier
◊ Corpse Flower by Gloria Ferris
◊ Bait of Pleasure by Blair Hemstock
◊ Putting Them Down by Peter Kirby

Short lists were also announced for Best Novel in French, Best Non-Fiction, and Best Short Story. See the CWC website for all the details.

The winners will be announced at the Arthur Ellis Awards Banquet in Toronto on Thursday, May 27, 2010.

indicates a review by Mysterious Reviews.

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Games of Mystery: Unsolved Mystery Club Amelia Earhart, New from Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery casual game from Big Fish Games released today and available to BFG Club members. 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.

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One of the great mysteries of the 20th century takes center stage in this hidden object game as players retrace the steps of famed aviator Amelia Earhart. Help the Unsolved Mystery Club find out what happened to the legendary aviator. Now is your chance to explore some of the facts and theories behind her disappearance. Visit scenes from the pilot's real life, searching for clues and recovering artifacts, before eventually delving into some of the theories about what may have happened during her fateful flight. Put on your thinking cap as you scour detailed scenes and solve one of the greatest mysteries of all time!

Also available: Unsolved Mystery Club: Amelia Earhart Strategy Guide and a Unsolved Mystery Club: Amelia Earhart.

Unsolved Mystery Club: Amelia Earhart may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (253.58 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.

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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

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Mystery Bestsellers for April 23, 2010

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending April 23, 2010 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

Harlan Coben's non-series thriller Caught remains for the third week at the top of the list with three new titles debuting in the top 15.

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Coming in at number 10 is Deliver Us from Evil, a sequel to David Baldacci's stand-alone thriller The Whole Truth.

Evan Waller is a monster. He has built a fortune from his willingness to buy and sell anything ... and anyone. In search of new opportunities, Waller has just begun a new business venture: one that could lead to millions of deaths all over the globe.

On Waller's trail is Shaw, the mysterious operative from The Whole Truth, who must prevent Waller from closing his latest deal. Shaw's one chance to bring him down will come in the most unlikely of places: a serene, bucolic village in Provence.

But Waller's depravity and ruthlessness go deeper than Shaw knows. And now, there is someone else pursuing Waller in Provence -- Reggie Campion, an agent for a secret vigilante group headquartered in a musty old English estate-and she has an agenda of her own.

Hunting the same man and unaware of each other's mission, Shaw and Reggie will be caught in a deadly duel of nerve and wits.

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In 14th position is The Double Comfort Safari Club, the 11th delightful entry in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith.

Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi head to a safari camp to carry out a delicate mission on behalf of a former guest who has left one of the guides a large sum of money. But once they find their man, Precious begins to sense that something is not right.

To make matters worse, shortly before their departure Mma Makutsi’s fiancé, Phuti Radiphuti, suffers a debilitating accident, and when his aunt moves in to take care of him, she also pushes Mma Makutsi out of the picture. Could she be trying to break up the relationship?

Finally, a local priest and his wife independently approach Mma Ramotswe with concerns of infidelity, creating a rather unusual and tricky situation. Nevertheless, Precious is confident that with a little patience, kindness and good sense things will work out for the best

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Finally, in 15th place is the 15 mystery in the Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers series, This Body of Death by Elizabeth George.

On compassionate leave after the murder of his wife, Thomas Lynley is called back to Scotland Yard when the body of a woman is found stabbed and abandoned in an isolated London cemetery. His former team doesn't trust the leadership of their new department chief, Isabelle Ardery, whose management style seems to rub everyone the wrong way. In fact, Lynley may be the sole person who can see beneath his superior officer's hard-as-nails exterior to a hidden—and possibly attractive—vulnerability.

While Lynley works in London, his former colleagues Barbara Havers and Winston Nkata follow the murder trail south to the New Forest. There they discover a beautiful and strange place where animals roam free, the long-lost art of thatching is very much alive, and outsiders are not entirely welcome. What they don't know is that more than one dark secret lurks among the trees, and that their investigation will lead them to an outcome that is both tragic and shocking.

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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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The Mystery Bookshelf: Bruno, Chief of Police, first in a series by Martin Walker

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

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Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker
A Bruno, Chief of Police Mystery (1st in series)
Vintage (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: April 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0-307-45469-0

About Bruno, Chief of Police (from the publisher): Meet Benoît Courrèges, aka Bruno, a policeman in a small village in the South of France. He’s a former soldier who has embraced the pleasures and slow rhythms of country life. He has a gun but never wears it; he has the power to arrest but never uses it. But then the murder of an elderly North African who fought in the French army changes all that. Now Bruno must balance his beloved routines—living in his restored shepherd’s cottage, shopping at the local market, drinking wine, strolling the countryside—with a politically delicate investigation. He’s paired with a young policewoman from Paris and the two suspect anti-immigrant militants. As they learn more about the dead man’s past, Bruno’s suspicions turn toward a more complex motive.

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About Martin Walker: The senior director of the Global Business Policy Council and editor emeritus and international affairs columnist at United Press International, he was also the Moscow and U.S. bureau chief for Britain’s The Guardian. He is also a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. He lives in Washington, D.C., and the southwest of France. Visit his website at MartinWalker.com.

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Mystery Book Review: Money To Burn by James Grippando

Money To Burn
by James Grippando
Non-series

Harper (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-06-155630-0 (0061556300)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-155630-2 (9780061556302)
Publication Date: February 2010
List Price: $25.99

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Review: Wall Street – the hub of America’s economy. James Grippando brings to life just how frighteningly easy it would be to completely destroy the financial institutions that are at the heart of America. Money to Burn is Grippando’s latest masterpiece that is guaranteed to keep readers on the edge of their seats and prevent them from sleeping too soundly.

Michael Cantella is a young climber at Saxton Silvers, the most important investment bank on Wall Street, and has it all. He’s rich, in love, and on his way to even greater success. On a Saxton Silvers’ cruise, Michael and the love of his life spontaneously decide to leave the stuffy Wall Street crew and embark on their own to marry and honeymoon in the Bahamas. Ivy Layton, however, does not get to enjoy her wedding night. Instead she mysteriously disappears and is never to be found. Seven years later, Michael has picked up the pieces and has a new wife, continued success, and an immense bank account. What could possibly go wrong? Apparently everything. The day before Michael turns thirty-five, he comes face to face with the most horrifying reality – his entire bank account has been wiped clean – every penny to his name. Within twenty-four hours, Michael is completely broke, his wife is demanding a divorce, and somehow he is being accused of bringing down the most powerful financial institution on Wall Street. As pieces of the puzzle come together, it seems that the most likely person behind this scheme is Ivy – his deceased wife. Nothing makes sense, and Michael has nowhere to turn – except to his estranged brother who agrees to represent him. Michael must overcome family dissonance, come to terms with his new poverty and homelessness, and realize that everything is nothing like what it seems. But, can he do it and still stay alive? The odds are definitely against him.

Money to Burn is a first-rate thriller. It is utterly terrifying how simple it seems to bring down major financial institutions. In today’s economy, this storyline will leave readers completely unsettled. Grippando does an excellent job of creating characters that are easy to love and even easier to hate. The reader can’t help but yearn for some kind of justice for Michael Cantella. In his words, “When it comes to financial crimes, secrets, violence and even murder, my Wall Street tale proves that sometimes you can clean up toxic waste, and other times it goes up in flames. Intense, hot, uncontrollable flames.” As Michael quickly finds out, sometimes those flames never go out! Money to Burn is also a layering of complex stories that seem completely disconnected, but instead are finely intertwined. Grippando superbly weaves together intricate pasts and character storylines in such a way that each layer is a piece to the puzzle. But that final piece that makes it all come together remains a mystery until the very end. In that Money to Burn is a financial thriller, Grippando uses a plethora of Wall Street terminology. Although this can leave definite confusion for those readers who are not “up” on all the stock market lingo, Grippando does a decent job of clarifying when necessary – though there will still definitely be holes. Without a solid understanding of these terms, the whole explanation of the financial crime will be unclear, but that does not distract from the enjoyment the reader will get from reading. Money to Burn is a gripping read that will leave readers wanting more!

Special thanks to Margo Nauert for contributing her review of Money To Burn and to HarperCollins for providing a copy of the book for this review.

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

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Synopsis (from the publisher): At thirty-one, Michael Cantella is a rising star at Wall Street's premier investment bank, Saxton Silvers. Everything is going according to plan until Ivy Layton, the love of his life, vanishes on their honeymoon in the Bahamas.

Fast-forward four years. It's the eve of his thirty-fifth birthday, and Michael is still on track: successful career, beautiful new wife, piles of money. Reveling in his good fortune, Michael logs in to his computer, enters his password, and pulls up his biggest investment account: Zero balance. He tries another, and another. All of them zero. Someone has wiped him out. His only clue is a new e-mail message: Just as planned. xo xo.

With these three words Michael's life as he knows it is liquidated, along with his investment portfolio. Saxton Silvers is suddenly on the brink of bankruptcy, and he's the leading suspect in its ruin. Michael is left alone, framed, and facing divorce, with undercover FBI agents afoot, spyware on his computer, and mysterious e-mails from a "JBU." Embroiled in corporate espionage, he's desperate to clear his name and realizes that several signs point to his first wife, Ivy, as a key player. But what if Ivy has come back from the dead, only to visit on Michael a fate worse than death?

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Mysterious Reviews is your source for the latest mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime novel reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

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