Nominations for 2010 Shamus Awards Announced

The Rap Sheet has a list of this year's Shamus Award nominees. The Shamus Award is given annually by the Private Eye Writers of America to honor excellence in the private investigator genre. The winner will be announced at this year's Bouchercon in October. (For novels, the private eye is indicated by parentheses.)

Best PI Hardcover
◊ The Silent Hour by Michael Koryta (Lincoln Perry)
◊ Where the Dead Lay by David Levien (Frank Behr)
◊ Locked In by Marcia Muller (Sharon McCone)
◊ Schemers by Bill Pronzini (Nameless Detective)
◊ My Soul to Take by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (Thora Gudmundsdottir)

Best First PI Novel:
◊ Loser's Town by Daniel Depp (David Spandau)
◊ The Last Gig by Norman Green (Alessandra Al Martillo)
◊ The Good Son by Russel D. McLean (J. McNee)
◊ Faces of the Gone by Brad Parks (Carter Ross)
◊ Chinatown Angel by A. E. Roman (Chico Santana)

Best PI Paperback Original:
◊ Dark Side of the Morgue by Raymond Benson (Spike Berenger)
◊ Sinner's Ball by Ira Berkowitz (Jackson Steeg)
◊ Red Blooded Murder by Laura Caldwell (Izzy McNeil)
◊ Vengeance Road by Rick Mofina (Jack Gannon)
◊ Body Blows by Marc Strange (Joe Grundy)

Best PI Short Story:
◊ "The Dark Island" (Boston Noir) by Brendan DuBois
◊ "Deadline Edition" (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine) by S. L. Franklin
◊ "Blazin' on Broadway" (Phoenix Noir) by Gary Phillips
◊ "Suicide Bonds" (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine) by Tim L. Williams
◊ "Julius Katz" (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine) by Dave Zeltserman

Mystery Bestsellers for August 13, 2010

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending August 13th, 2010 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson remains at the top of the list for the umpteenth week. A book that debuted just off the list last week moves into the top 15 this week.

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Moving from 22 to 14 is Burn, the 16th mystery in the Anna Pigeon series by Nevada Barr.

A Ranger with the National Park Service, Anna is newly married but on administrative leave from her job as she recovers from the traumas of the past couple of months. While the physical wounds have healed, the emotional ones are still healing. With her new husband back at work, Anna decides to go and stay with an old friend from the Park Service, Geneva, who works as a singer at the New Orleans Jazz NHP. She isn’t in town long before she crosses paths with a tenant of Geneva’s, a creepy guy named Jordan. She discovers what seems to be an attempt to place a curse on her—a gruesomely killed pigeon marked with runic symbols; and begins to slowly find traces of very dark doings in the heart of post-Katrina New Orleans. Tied up in all of this is Jordan, who is not at all what he appears to be; a fugitive mother accused of killing her husband and daughters in a fire; and faint whispers of unpleasant goings-on in the heart of the slowly recovering city.

Now it will take all of Anna’s skills learned in the untamed outdoors to navigate the urban jungle in which she finds herself, to uncover the threads that connect these seemingly disparate people, and to rescue the most vulnerable of creatures from the most savage of animals.

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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.

Cast Announced for BBC Adaptation of The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber

In other BBC news, the cast of the upcoming made-for-television adaptation of the 2002 novel The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber has been announced, and includes Romola Garai, Chris O'Dowd, Gillian Anderson, and Richard E. Grant.

Described as an "intimate psychological thriller [that] lifts the lid on the darker side of Victorian London revealing a world seething with vitality, sexuality, ambition and emotion", principal photography has begun on the 4-episode mini-series. No air date was announced.

BBC Series Sherlock to Air on Masterpiece Mystery!, Will Also Return for Second Season

The Daily Mail is reporting that the new BBC series Sherlock, a contemporary take on the classic characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, will be back for a second season. The first season of just three episodes recently concluded to high ratings.

Separately, the BBC America blog reports that this first season of Sherlock will be coming to PBS's Masterpiece Mystery! starting October 24th, with a DVD to be released soon thereafter. All good news for those of us in the US who are intrigued by, and looking forward to watching, this series!

Shaolin Mystery: Tale of the Jade Dragon Staff, a New Hidden Object Adventure Game from BFG

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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Travel across ancient China and help Yu as she searches for the mythical Jade Dragon Staff. Save your wrongly imprisoned friend in this fun and exciting hidden object puzzle adventure game. Explore fantastic locations, meet monks, speak to spirits, and much more as you embark on this epic adventure through beautiful China.

Also available: Shaolin Mystery: Tale of the Jade Dragon Staff Strategy Guide and Shaolin Mystery: Tale of the Jade Dragon Staff Game Walkthrough.

Shaolin Mystery: Tale of the Jade Dragon Staff may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (233.52 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!

AMC Picks Up Crime Drama based on Danish Suspense Series Forbrydelsen

Back in January, we reported that AMC TV had ordered a pilot for a crime drama based on the Danish suspense television series Forbrydelsen. The Hollywood Reporter is now reporting that the cable network has given the green light for 13 one-hour episodes with a premiere date in 2011. Originally titled The Killing, the series will ultimately be given a new name.

Set in Seattle, the series plotline ties together three distinct stories about a single murder and the detectives assigned to the case. As disagreements arise about the best course of action, they chase down a variety of leads and suspects. Along the way there are major repercussions for the victim's family, the detectives, the suspects, and the local politicians connected to the case.

Production is expected to begin in Vancouver this fall.

Diane Lane to Star in Film Adaptation of Every Secret Thing by Laura Lippman

Deadline: New York is reporting that Diane Lane is will star as the detective trying to unravel the mystery behind what happened when two 11-year-old girls snatch a baby -- and after seven years in juvenile prison, they're released and another child disappears -- in the film adaptation of Laura Lippman's 2003 stand-alone thriller Every Secret Thing. Producer Frances McDormand, who originally optioned the book, the screenplay of which is written by Nicole Holofcener, is searching for a director.

The Garden of Betrayal by Lee Vance (Book Review)

The Garden of Betrayal by Lee Vance. Non-series. Knopf Hardcover, August 2010.

Seven years after their 12-year-old son Kyle vanishes, a new clue surfaces that Mark and Claire Wallace, together with their now teenage daughter Kate, follow in the hope of explaining what happened on that fateful night in The Garden of Betrayal, the second non-series thriller by Lee Vance.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: The Garden of Betrayal by Lee Vance.

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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.

Through the Cracks by Barbara Fister (Book Review)

Through the Cracks by Barbara Fister. An Anni Koskinen Mystery. Minotaur Books Hardcover, May 2010.

Former Chicago police detective, now private investigator Anni Koskinen is hired by a woman who claims she wrongly identified the man who raped her 23 years ago, a man recently released from prison when his conviction was overturned, in Through the Cracks, the second mystery in this series by Barbara Fister.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Through the Cracks by Barbara Fister.

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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.

English-Language Film Adaptation of Harlan Coben's Tell No One Slowly Moving Forward

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that an English-language remake of a foreign film based on a bestselling thriller may be moving forward. No, it's not The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but Harlan Coben's Tell No One.

A French-language adaptation of the book was released in 2006, and was both a critical and commercial success. (The film, Ne le dis a personne is available on DVD.) But getting a version made in English has taken a somewhat circuitous route. Focus Features and Miramax Films secured the film rights in 2009 -- Miramax has since been sold and is no longer involved -- and a screenplay is reportedly being drafted by Andrew Dominik. Still, progress is being made, if ever so slowly.

The Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill, a Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery (6th in series)

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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The Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill
A Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery (6th in series)
Soho Crime (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: August 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-654-3

About The Merry Misogynist (from the publisher): In poverty-stricken 1978 Laos, a man from the city with a truck was “somebody,” a catch for even the prettiest village virgin. The corpse of one of these bucolic beauties turns up in Dr. Siri’s morgue and his curiosity is piqued. The victim was tied to a tree and strangled, but she had not, as the doctor had expected, been raped. And though the victim had smooth, pale skin over most of her body, her hands and feet were gnarled, callused, and blistered.

On a trip to the hinterlands, Siri discovers that many women have been killed in this way. He sets out to investigate this unprecedented phenomenon—a serial killer in peaceful Buddhist Laos—only to discover when he has identified the murderer that not only pretty maidens are at risk: seventy-three-year-old coroners can be victims too.

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About Colin Cotterill: The winner of the 2009 CWA Dagger in the Library Award and the Dilys Award for the second book in the series, Thirty-Three Teeth, he lives in Chumphon on the Gulf of Siam with his wife, Jess and four deranged dogs. He listens to jazz, rides his bicycle to the post office, and isn't averse to the odd glass of red. Visit his website at ColinCotterill.com.

Mysteries by Colin Cotterill reviewed by Mysterious Reviews: Anarchy and Old Dogs (2007), Curse of the Pogo Stick (2008), and The Merry Misogynist (2009).

NPR Interviews Ridley Pearson

NPR talks to crime novelist Ridley Pearson this morning about his Sheriff Walt Fleming series of mysteries that are set in Sun Valley, Idaho. Pearson says he based his character on the real sheriff of Sun Valley, Walt Femling, who is occasionally mistaken for the fictional sheriff.

The setting is also an important element in Peason's novels, who says his job is "to bring out the danger of Sun Valley's beautiful landscape."

Pearson adds, "This is a series and when you envision a series, you're envisioning basically a several thousand page story and you need themes and threads that are going to carry through. So you could push each of these off a cliff every time and start the engine all over but I like it when the character is growing, the town is growing, the conflict is growing."

The fourth mystery in the series, In Harm's Way, was published last week. In our review of the third book in the series, we said, "Sometimes a mystery's plot, characters, inter-character relationships, setting, narrative, and dialogue all come together in perfect harmony to produce an exceptional novel; Killer Summer is one such novel." (Read our full review on Mysterious Reviews.)

You can listen to the interview on NPR's Morning Edition, where there's also an excerpt from In Harm's Way.

Mystery Author Charlie Huston's New Series to be Published by Mulholland Books

GalleyCat (via Publishers Lunch) is reporting that mystery author Charlie Huston has signed a three book deal with Mulholland Books, introducing a new series character, a man raised in a box who becomes the world's most skilled assassin. The first book, Skinner, will be published in 2011.

Mulholland Books is the new mystery and suspense imprint of Little, Brown. It has recently updated its website that includes a list of upcoming titles, the first of which will appear in the Spring of 2011. This is an imprint we're looking forward to reading!

NPR Interviews Janet Evanovich

NPR published an interview today with bestselling mystery writer Janet Evanovich, who talks primarily about the setting for her Stephanie Plum series, Trenton, New Jersey, saying it "reminded her of the tightknit, blue-collar community where she grew up, in nearby South River. It's the kind of place where people sit on their front porches and know their neighbors. Evanovich wanted that kind of setting in her books."

Stephanie Plum is a lingerie buyer turned bounty hunter in the series, the most recent "numbered" entry of which is Sizzling Sixteen. (There are also four "between-the-numbers" books.) In the books, she "portrays neighborhoods with strong ethnic identities, a lot of attitude — and plenty of food."

You can listen to the interview on NPR's Morning Edition, where there's also an excerpt from the 11th book in the series, Eleven on Top.

Adam-12 and Numb3rs, New This Week on DVD

Telemystery, your source for one of the most comprehensive selections of detective, amateur sleuth, private investigator, and suspense television mystery series, mini-series and made-for-television movies, now available or coming soon to DVD or Blu-ray disc, is profiling two series being released this week.

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Martin Milner and Kent McCord are LAPD officer Pete Malloy and Jim Reed in Adam-12, a spin-off of the popular series Dragnet created by Jack Webb that aired on NBC for seven seasons.

Endorsed by the actual Los Angeles Police Department, the series featured everything from authentic department badges and vehicles to the genuine police headquarters, patrol stations, and law enforcement procedures. Adam-12 was the first television series to more realistically display the joys and frustrations of being an officer in the late 1960s and early ‘70s and chronicled, with great detail and accuracy, events from real LAPD cases.

The Adam-12: Season Five DVD set of 4 discs contain the 23 episodes that aired on NBC from September 1972 through March 1973, including a cross-over episode from another Jack Webb series, Emergency!

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Numb3rs, a crime drama about an FBI agent who recruits his mathematical-genius brother to help the Bureau solve a wide range of challenging crimes in Los Angeles, ended its 6-year run earlier this year.

Numb3rs stars Rob Morrow and David Krumholtz as two brothers who take on the most confounding criminal cases from very distinctive perspectives. The series depicts how the confluence of police work and mathematics provides unexpected revelations and answers to the most perplexing criminal questions.

The Numb3rs: Season Six DVD set of 4 discs contain the 16 episodes that aired on CBS from September 2009 through March 2010.

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Visit the Telemystery website to discover more television mystery series currently available on DVD and Blu-ray disc.