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 Case of the Wounded Pigeon by Fred Rexroad. The first mystery in the Whiz Tanner series, recommended for readers aged 10 to 12. Lexile measure: N/A. Reviewed by a 6th grade student who writes, "This book is really amazing, and at parts, it actually pushed me of my chair. Literally! I think that Fred Rexroad is an amazing author and that he has a great sense of humor."
For more reviews of children and young adult books of all genres, visit Book Trends; their reviews will amaze you!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Reviews of Mystery and Suspense Books for Kids, New This Week on Book Trends (100612)
Games of Mystery: Midnight Mysteries, the Salem Witch Trials
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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The spirit of a famous novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne needs your help in this sequel to Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy! The famed writer has died during a freak snow storm in May, and his ghost has come to you, asking for help. Travel back and forth in time from the scene of the author’s demise to the 17th century, where a town is going mad with rumors of witchcraft and a woman is facing the gallows. Explore the gloomy village of Salem, look for different hidden objects, solve challenging puzzles, and unravel all the secrets of this ill-boding place.
See also the first game in this series, Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy.
Also available: Midnight Mysteries: Salem Witch Trials Strategy Guide.
Midnight Mysteries 2: Salem Witch Trials may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (100.43 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 Ms. Terri's reviews of the adventure and casual mystery games featured on this site, including Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy, Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses!, Enlightenus, and many more!
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!
Friday, June 11, 2010
Mystery Book Review: The Name Partner by Carlos Cisneros
Review of The Name Partner by Carlos Cisneros
Houston attorney Guillermo "Billy" Bravo must come to terms with professional and personal conflict when he takes on the defense of a pharmaceutical company implicated in the death of a patient in The Name Partner, a non-series legal thriller that could also serve as the first in a new series.
Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews.
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The Name Partner
Carlos Cisneros
Non-series
Arte Publico Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-55885-594-7 (1558855947)
ISBN-13: 978-1-55885-594-6 (9781558855946)
Publication Date: March 2010
List Price: $24.95
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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.
Games of Mystery: This Week's New Titles from Amazon Video Games (100611)
Games of Mystery is pleased to announce this week's new mystery and suspense casual and adventure games available for immediate download from Amazon Video Games.
A complete list of downloadable mystery games is available on our Games of Mystery: Amazon Video Games Download page.
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Rhianna Ford in The Da Vinci Letter
Travel to Rome with Rhianna Ford to confirm the authenticity of a still sealed letter possibly written by Leonardo Da Vinci! Cornelius Blake has demanded that Rhianna pack her things and head across the Atlantic to test the ancient letter. Use your hidden object skills to help Rhianna discover the truth about the letter, and keep her job!
ESRB Rating: Not Specified.
Windows Vista/XP (172 MB download).
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The Sultan's Labryinth: A Royal Sacrifice
Use your hidden object skills to help Tallis escape a mysterious labyrinth, and save Sultan Bahar's soul! An evil genie has appeared the night before the sultan's funeral, and has demanded to take him away. As the next in line to the throne, it is up to Tallis to defeat the genie by escaping his maze and reclaiming his father-in-law's soul! Solve tricky puzzles and mysterious locks to make your way to freedom!
ESRB Rating: Not Specified.
Windows Vista/XP (87 MB download).
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PuppetShow: Mystery of Joyville
The puppet show in Joyville was once a wondrous attraction until the great fire. Now, rusted gears and dark mysteries lay within strange machinations and disheveled puppets. A young boy, Simon, is the most recent in a long line of missing people. You are tasked with solving nefarious puzzles, finding hidden clues, and uncovering the dark secrets of a town that is anything but joyful. WARNING: May contain disturbing imagery and themes.
ESRB Rating: Not Specified.
Windows Vista/XP (174 MB download).
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Luxor Adventures
Travel to the edge of time and back! In this hidden-object adventure, follow John Swift and Jane Graham as they travel through the past to keep history intact. When the archaeology duo uncovers the Osiris Orb just outside of Luxor, they learn that the mythical Stairway to Heaven is more real than they had first believed. Now, they find themselves tumbling through time and space in a race to keep the deceptive, power-hungry Seth Hisster from changing history forever.
ESRB Rating: Not Specified.
Windows Vista/XP (137 MB download).
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Vampire Saga: Pandora's Box
With a chilling crime at the center of its spellbinding story, this game is not intended for the faint of heart. Join Matthew Ward as he steals aboard a cargo ship to escape the violence of the Spanish-American War, passes out and then wakes up to find himself alone with several sinister-looking coffins. Explore eerie locations, search for hidden objects and follow a story full of nerve-pricking encounters. Without a doubt, this captivating mystery thriller will give you the creeps!
ESRB Rating: Not Specified.
Windows Vista/XP (75 MB download).
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Games of Mystery is your source for mystery-themed video, electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, and more mysterious fun!
Mystery Book Review: One Man's Paradise by Douglas Corleone
Review of One Man's Paradise by Douglas Corleone
Douglas Corleone introduces criminal defense attorney Kevin Corvelli, who leaves New York City after a media storm to start a new practice in Honolulu, in One Man's Paradise, the winner of the 2009 St. Martin's Minotaur/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel contest and presumably (hopefully?) the first in a series.
Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews.
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One Man's Paradise
Douglas Corleone
A Kevin Corvelli Mystery
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-61158-7 (0312611587)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-61158-3 (9780312611583)
Publication Date: April 2010
List Price: $24.99
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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.
New Poster and Trailer for AMC Original Series Rubicon
AMC's new original drama Rubicon doesn't premiere until August, but this Sunday, June 13th at 11 PM (ET/PT), following the season finale of Breaking Bad, the network is offering viewers a sneak peak at the new series pilot.
Thirteen episodes of the series, a conspiracy thriller starring James Badge Dale as an analyst at a New York City think-tank who is thrown into a story where nothing is as it appears to be, have been ordered.
"Rubicon is an incredible story about trust and power born out of the desire to find a way to capture the intensity and mystery of the best conspiracy thrillers in a series. It is a show that appeals to everyone who has some skepticism about the relationship between big business and our government, which we think is pretty much everybody,” says Joel Stillerman, SVP of original programming, production and digital content for AMC. “Our stellar cast and creative team allow us to continue to present premium television on basic cable."
Watch a trailer for the series below.
Mystery Bestsellers for June 11, 2010
A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending June 11th, 2010 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.
Little change within the top 10 with the third and final thriller in the Millennium trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson, retaining the top position. One new title moves into the top 15, after debuting just off the list last week.
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Moving into the 10th spot is the 19th thriller in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series, Bullet by Laurell K. Hamilton.
Anita is back in St. Louis and trying to live a normal life -- as normal as possible for someone who is a legal vampire executioner and a U.S. Marshal. There are lovers, friends and their children, school programs to attend. In the midst of all the ordinary happiness a vampire from Anita's past reaches out. She was supposed to be dead, killed in an explosion, but the Mother of All Darkness is the first vampire, their dark creator. It's hard to kill a god. This dark goddess has reached out to her here -- in St. Louis, home of everyone Anita loves most. The Mother of All Darkness has decided she has to act now or never, to control Anita, and all the vampires in America.
The Mother of All Darkness believes that the triumvirate created by master vampire Jean-Claude with Anita and the werewolf Richard Zeeman has enough power for her to regain a body and to immigrate to the New World. But the body she wants to possess is already taken. Anita is about to learn a whole new meaning to sharing her body, one that has nothing to do with the bedroom. And if the Mother of All Darkness can't succeed in taking over Anita's body for herself, she means to see that no one else has the use of it, ever again. Even Belle Morte, not always a friend to Anita, has sent word: "Run if you can ..."
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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.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Nominations for 2010 Barry Awards Announced
Lesa Holstine has posted the nominees for the Barry Awards on her blog Lesa's Book Critiques. These annual awards are presented by the editorial staff of Deadly Pleasures for the best works published in the field of crime fiction, with the winners announced this October during Bouchercon in San Francisco.
The nominees are:
Best Novel:
◊ The Gates by John Connolly (Atria)
◊ The Hidden Man by David Ellis 
◊ Spade & Archer by Joe Gores
◊ The Last Child by John Hart (St. Martin's Minotaur)
◊ Locked In by Marcia Muller (Grand Central)
◊ Shanghai Moon by S.J. Rozan (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Best First Novel:
◊ Beat The Reaper by Josh Bazell (Little, Brown)
◊ The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
◊ A Trace of Smoke by Rebecca Cantrell (Forge)
◊ A Bad Day For Sorry by Sophie Littlefield
◊ Black Water Rising by Attica Locke
◊ The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville
Best British Novel:
◊ Awakening by S. J. Bolton
◊ The Lovers by John Connolly (Hodder & Stoughton)
◊ Midnight Fugue by Reginald Hill (HarperCollins)
◊ If The Dead Not Rise by Philip Kerr (Quercus)
◊ Still Midnight by Denise Mina (Orion)
◊ Ignorance of Blood by Robert Wilson (HarperCollins)
Best Paperback Original:
◊ Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
◊ Quarry in the Middle by Max Allan Collins (HardCase Crime)
◊ Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley
◊ The Weight of Silence by Heather Gutenkauf (Mira)
◊ Fatal Lies by Frank Tallis (Random House Mortalis)
◊ The Herring-Seller'S Apprentice by L. C. Tyler (Felony & Mayhem)
Best Thriller:
◊ No Survivors by Tom Cain (Viking)
◊ Running from the Devil by Jamie Freveletti (Wm. Morrow)
◊ The Gray Man by Mark Greaney (Jove)
◊ Columbus by Derek Haas (Pegasus)
◊ House Secrets by Mike Lawson (Atlantic Monthly)
◊ Walking Dead by Greg Rucka (Bantam)
Best Mystery/Crime Novel of the Decade:
◊ The Guards by Ken Bruen (St. Martin's Minotaur)
◊ The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
◊ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
◊ Mystic River by Dennis Lehane (Wm. Morrow)
◊ Still Life by Louise Penny (St. Martin's Minotaur)
◊ The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Penguin)
Best Short Story:
◊ "My Mother's Keeper" by Barbara Callahan (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine)
◊ "Erin's Journal" by David Dean (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine)
◊ "Real Men Die" by John H. Dirckx (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
◊ "The High House Writer" by Brendan DuBois (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
◊ "A Hollywood Ending" by Melodie Johnson Howe (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine)
◊ "Hard Blows" (The Prosecution Rests) by Morley Swingle (Back Bay Books)
MBN Welcomes Del Staecker, Author of the Ledge Trabue Mysteries
Mystery Books News is thrilled to welcome Del Staecker as our guest blogger. Del is the author of a trilogy of mysteries featuring Ledge Trabue — Gulf War veteran, unpaid sleuth and part-time adventurer — who, in Chocolate Soup (Cable Publishing, April 2010, 978-1-934980-57-6), finds himself in New Orleans, a city reeling under an onslaught of greed and deceit greater than any storm it has ever weathered.
Today, Del writes about what he's asked most when he meets with readers. And he's also providing our readers with an opportunity to win a signed copy of each book in the trilogy. Visit Mystery Book Contests, click on the "Del Staecker: Ledge Trabue Trilogy" contest link, enter your name, e-mail address, and this code (2987) for a chance to win! (One entry per person; contest ends June 24, 2010.)
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Photo courtesy of Del Staecker
As an author I am asked more about my characters than any other component of the writing process.
Yes — more than plot twists, riveting action, and sex — readers want to know about the people that populate my stories.
At readings, signings, and other appearances, I encounter questions such as: “Where do your characters come from?” “Do you create profiles?” “What makes a character a good one?” and, “How do you make them so real?”
Let me share as best I can what I know about creating, developing, and (upon occasion) killing off characters by answering those questions.
First, I am not a “trained” writer. By that I mean I have not received training through an MFA program, or writer’s seminars — formal or informal. For me, writing came out of a life of reading and personal experiences. Although I attended college and received an excellent education I am a self-taught writer.
Second, I see myself as more storyteller than writer — and that leads to my discussion of characters. What my characters do is the story — so much so that in the acknowledgement to my latest novel, Chocolate Soup, I thanked the characters of the Ledge Trabue Trilogy for allowing me to tell their story.
So — let’s examine some characteristics of writing through characters.
Where do my characters come from?
I’m a daydreamer by nature. I allow my imagination to work and then ask questions. For example, The Muted Mermaid (and the trilogy) began when I imagined the experience of finding a corpse tangled in a pleasure boat’s anchor line. Who found it? What did he/she do? And what type of person is found in that situation? At that point the characters emerged.
Do I construct and use character profiles?
No, for me the characters are grown through their actions and their participation in the situations in which they are embroiled. They are not designed by me. In fact, I believe that they take off based upon their own energy and become real personalities. More than once, I’ve been wakened from a sound sleep to overhear their conversations.
What is the secret to a good character?
That’s simple — they are engaged in great dialogue. If their conversations sound authentic then the characters are real.
How do you attain reality?
I don’t — the characters do it all. I’m serious about my being a storyteller. I’m an observer — in a sense I’m a reporter in their world. My job is to get the description right.
Getting back to profiles — what if a character “goes rogue?”
If they are real, then characters can be contradictory. In fact, at times they must be. Also, people (and characters) do develop. Over time, we all change. Sometimes we grow, and sometimes we regress. To me, strict adherence to a profile would stifle the “real-ness” of a character. Too much consistency can be boring. Granted, my characters do have recurring traits. Trabue’s quirky stomach and The Professor’s love of food are elements that are timeless and solid. Over the course of three books you’ll find both elements of stability and recklessness in my characters.
And a final question — How do you “kill off” a character?
I don’t. Again, I simply let the characters “do their thing.”
I hope I’ve been helpful in shedding some light on characters — as I am involved with them. If you are interested in experiencing the birth, development, and end of some great characters I encourage you to dip into the Ledge Trabue trilogy.
My best to you!
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“As addictive as M&Ms” and “[A] deftly written masterpiece” is how Del Staecker’s Ledge Trabue trilogy has been described in reviews.
Beginning with The Muted Mermaid, and progressing through Shaved Ice Ledge Trabue encounters and fights timeless evil wearing a modern face. The fight and adventure comes to a stunning conclusion in Chocolate Soup.
Del is also the author of the multiple-award-winning World War II naval classic, The Lady Gangster: A Sailor’s Memoir. Visit his website at DelStaecker.com.
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About Chocolate Soup: Ledge Trabue, Gulf War veteran, unpaid sleuth and part-time adventurer, is finally at home — comfortably ensconced at the Colonnade Hotel — enjoying his peculiarly unique lifestyle and the company of an eclectic group of friends.
All is well, or so he thinks, when his finicky stomach begins its disturbing habit of flip-flopping. Trabue’s early warning system for an approaching disaster is right-on and soon New Orleans is reeling under an onslaught of greed and deceit greater than any storm it has ever weathered. Under an avalanche of evil the hoped for chocolate city is reduced to an unsavory Chocolate Soup.
For a chance to win a signed copy of each book in the trilogy, courtesy of the author, visit Mystery Book Contests, click on the "Del Staecker: Ledge Trabue Trilogy" contest link, and enter your name, e-mail address, and this code (2987) in the entry form. (One entry per person; contest ends June 24, 2010.)
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Enter to Win One of Ten Copies of Fangland by John Marks
A few days ago we reported that John Carpenter was on board to direct a film adaptation of the vampire thriller Fangland by John Marks.
We learned today that Regal Literary is hosting a giveaway for a copy of the book -- actually, 10 copies to 10 winners!
Enter using this link before July 2nd, 2010.
About Fangland (from the publisher): Evangeline Harker is an employee of the legendary TV news magazine The Hour. Sent on assignment to Transylvania, she delivers more than a story when mysterious e-mails, coffins, and a creepy guy named Torgu descend on the show's New York office.
Script of the Pilot Episode of A&E's New Mystery Series The Glades Available to Download
A&E Network announced today the launch of an innovative and exclusive marketing partnership with Barnes & Noble to promote its new mystery drama series The Glades, which premieres on A&E on Sunday, July 11th at 10 PM (ET/PT).
The pilot script of the series has been converted into both a physical and digital book. Beginning today, June 9th, The Glades book will be featured on in-store displays in nearly half of Barnes & Noble's book stores across the country. A complimentary copy of The Glades will be offered to in-store customers, while supplies last. A free copy of the book will also be shipped with BN.com orders through July. You can also download a copy of the book (in PDF format) for free to read on your PC or Mac. (Other electronic versions are also available from both the A&E.com and BN.com sites.)
The Glades is a character-driven police procedural set in the sleepy, middle-of-nowhere town of Palm Glade, Florida, and stars Matt Passmore as Jim Longworth, an attractive and brilliant Chicago homicide detective with a reputation for being difficult. When his captain wrongfully accuses him of sleeping with his wife and shoots him, he is exiled and forced to relocate. He lands in the town of Palm Glade, outside of Florida's Everglades, where sunshine and golf are plentiful and crime is seemingly at a minimum. But Longworth soon finds out this town isn't quite as idyllic as he originally thought, as he finds people keep turning up murdered. Each case pulls Longworth off the golf course and reluctantly into his element as one of the sharpest homicide detectives to wear a badge ... the book is only the beginning.
Watch a behind-the-scenes preview of the series below:
Mystery Book Review: Too Close to Home by Lynette Eason
Review of Too Close to Home by Lynette Eason
Lynette Eason begins a new series of romantic suspense novels under the banner "Women of Justice" by introducing FBI Agent Samantha Cash, a forensic expert who is assigned to work with a South Carolina homicide detective in the case of a series of missing girls, in Too Close to Home.
Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews.
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Too Close to Home
Lynette Eason
A Women of Justice Mystery
Revell (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-8007-3369-X (080073369X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8007-3369-8 (9780800733698)
Publication Date: April 2010
List Price: $14.99
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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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