Monday, August 16, 2010

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for August 16, 2010

A new has been created by the editors of the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and is now available on our website.

Godoku is similar to Sudoku, but uses letters instead of numbers. To give you a headstart, we provide you a mystery clue to fill in a complete row or column (if you choose to use it!).

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for August 16, 2010

This week's letters and mystery clue:

A B C D E I K L T

This is the second mystery in the Jack Irish series by Peter Temple (9 letters).

We now have two weeks of our puzzles on one page in PDF format for easier printing. Print this week's puzzle here.

Previous puzzles are stored in the Mystery Godoku Archives.

Enjoy the weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle from the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, and Thanks for visiting our website!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Harlequin Intrigue Titles for September 2010

Harlequin Mysteries

eHarlequin.com has released the September 2010 titles in their Intrigue, breathtaking romantic suspense series. Get these edge-of-your-seat reads today with characters who conquer everything from kidnappings to murder mysteries, only to find themselves irresistibly drawn to one another! 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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Shadow Protector by Jenna Ryan
Buy the Book!

Shadow Protector by Jenna Ryan

Sera Hudson didn't need an invitation to Blue Ridge; she was looking for an escape. The only surviving witness of the Blindfold Killer, Sera wanted to lay low, but when danger found her yet again, she had no choice but to turn to the handsome local sheriff.

Logan may have patrolled a small town, but he had big-city instincts. The object of every woman's desire, he had a soft spot for newcomers and there was no chance he'd allow a murderer free rein over his charge. But he wasn't going to babysit Sera, either. He knew more about her than he let on, and their shared past held clues to the killer's identity. If they could find common ground, then maybe, just maybe, Sera could finally stop running away and see that he was her reason to stay …

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Cowboy Swagger by Joanna Wayne
Buy the Book!

Cowboy Swagger by Joanna Wayne

Of the five brothers only Dylan Ledger returned to their hometown of Mustang Run. But he was met by bad memories and hostile neighbors—except for Collette McGuire. The daughter of the sheriff was the last person he expected to have on his side—and the one who needed him most.

Collette had nowhere to go when her secret admirer turned violent stalker—except to Dylan. His arms became her haven, his lips her salvation. As old family secrets and feuds threatened to erupt, they knew they were both in for a wild ride. But this cowboy wasn't about to let anything throw him off course…or keep Collette out of his bed …

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Hook, Line and Shotgun Bride by Cassie Miles
Buy the Book!

Hook, Line and Shotgun Bride by Cassie Miles

As a trained lawman, Shane Gibson was known for remaining calm, cool and professional, regardless of the situation. But when it came to the danger his best friend's widow and her little boy found themselves in, things became incredibly personal …

Angela Hawthorne's life hadn't exactly gone as planned, but Shane had been there for her even in her darkest days. This time, desperate to stay one step ahead of those threatening to harm her, Angela wasn't sure that relying on Shane was a risk she should take. Though he claimed protecting her was all part of the job, the way his heart raced when he held her said otherwise.

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Bachelor Sheriff by Paula Graves
Buy the Book!

Bachelor Sheriff by Paula Graves

A man of duty and justice, Sheriff Aaron Cooper can't foresee trading his bachelor ways for love. So when he offers an innocent Melissa Draper protection, he doesn't realize what he's signed up for. His cop instincts urge him to stop at nothing to keep the beautiful, passionate woman safe. But the fact that she's suddenly become a target makes him wonder just what she's hiding—from him and from the investigation. Slowly, as Melissa opens up and reveals the horrors of her violent past, Aaron's heart races with the need to make her forget. Even if that means keeping her with him, away from danger … night after night …

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The McClintock Proposal by Carol Ericson
Buy the Book!

The McClintock Proposal by Carol Ericson

The moment Rod McClintock spots the disheveled bride on the side of the road, he knows life is about to become a lot more complicated. Callie Price is on the run and in need of his protection. She's also the answer to his financial woes, if they're both willing to say "I do."

A marriage of convenience is Callie's sole shot at inheriting the ranch that'll help her rebuild her life. All she needs is a husband in name only. Her smoldering cowboy rescuer fits the role perfectly. Too perfectly. As they struggle to escape a killer's obsession, peril and passion tie them together. And before long, someone is putting "till death do us part" to the ultimate test …

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Hill Country Holdup by Angi Morgan
Buy the Book!

Hill Country Holdup by Angi Morgan

Dr. Jane Palmer had every intention of telling FBI agent Steve Woods he was a father. But the rehearsed lines and practiced responses were forgotten the moment her little boy was kidnapped. Now, heart breaking and on the verge of falling apart, Jane needed Steve more than ever …

After every attempt at putting old feelings to rest, Steve Woods never expected Jane back in his life. Especially not for this reason. Racing against a ticking clock, desperate to earn Jane's trust, Steve still sensed Jane wasn't telling him everything. Which made him wonder why she'd come to Texas in the first place. And what it had to do with the child he'd do anything to rescue.

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If you enjoy the romantic suspense books in this series, you can get 2 free Harlequin Intrigue books plus 2 free gifts just for giving the automatic program a try. Accepting your two free Intrigue 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 Intrigue 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:

Sign up for email newsletters from eHarlequin.com

Nancy Drew Games: Buy Two, Get One Free!

Nancy Drew Games

Go undercover with Nancy Drew and get a free game!

For a limited time only, when you purchase three Nancy Drew Games from Amazon.com, you get the lowest priced game free.

Use this link to visit the promotion page.

Two New Games of Mystery to Download from AVG

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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Paige Harper and the Tome of Mystery
Paige Harper and the Tome of Mystery

Paige Harper and the Tome of Mystery

Late one night, Paige Harper stumbles upon a secret library and becomes trapped within a magic book. Her only way out is to travel through the seven timeless stories contained in the tome, but they are all out of place. Help Paige sort out these classics and put them back on their rightful paths by searching for hidden objects in unique 3D scenes. Get Romeo and Juliet to fall in love, beat Long John Silver to the treasure in Treasure Island, join Robin Hood's band of merry men, and more. Can you reveal the secrets of this mysterious tome and save Paige?

ESRB Rating: Not Specified.

Windows Vista/XP (186 MB download).

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Haunted Manor: Lord of Mirrors
Haunted Manor: Lord of Mirrors

Haunted Manor: Lord of Mirrors

Help Stan Riddle escape the Haunted Manor! After being trapped by the Lord of Mirrors, Stan needs you to guide him to safety! Use your hidden object skills to find valuable items and piece together perplexing puzzles. Discover why a beautiful mansion has been abandoned and what caused the owner to disappear. Come up with a clever escape plan to reach your friends.

ESRB Rating: Not Specified.

Windows Vista/XP (243 MB download).

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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!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Inspector Lewis in The Quality of Mercy, Tomorrow Sunday, August 15th, on PBS

Masterpiece Mystery! Inspector Lewis

Tomorrow, Sunday August 15th, the second of three encore episodes from Series II of Inspector Lewis airs on PBS's Masterpiece Mystery! In two weeks, the premiere episode of seven new episodes of the third series airs.

In an episode titled "The Quality of Mercy" (check your local listings for times) a student production of The Merchant of Venice takes a real-life deadly turn when a cast member is killed using a prop knife. Apart from the jealous ensemble cast who can't even muster fake tears over the loss of their colleague, there is an audience of suspects to consider — a career con man, an egotistical television personality and a young man who just might have killed to get a part in the play. DI Lewis (Kevin Whately) and DS Hathaway (Laurence Fox) [of the Thames Valley Police] methodically try to make sense of the murderous plot, but before they do, another death occurs with a Shakespearean sensibility. As the final act is about to unfold, the case takes an intensely personal turn for Lewis, bringing back traumatic memories and invoking a lesson in mercy.

Inspector Lewis is a spin-off of the long-running Inspector Morse mysteries, based on characters created by crime novelist Colin Dexter.

Inspector Lewis: Series Two is also available on DVD from Telemystery.

Nominations for Inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award Announced

Mystery Book Awards: The Edgars, The Agathas, The Anthonys, and many more.

Mystery Fanfare is reporting that the finalists for a new mystery award, the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, have been announced. The award, named after the renown New Zealand crime novelist, will be given for the best crime, mystery, or thriller novel written by a New Zealand citizen or resident and published in New Zealand in 2009. The nominees are:

Cut and Run by Alix Bosco (Penguin)
Burial by Neil Cross (Simon & Schuster)
Containment by Vanda Symon (Penguin)

The winner will be announced at a ceremony at the conclusion of the “Setting the Stage for Murder” event on September 10th.

Twentynine Palms by Daniel Pyne (Book Review)

Mysterious Reviews: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller and Crime Novel Reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books

Twentynine Palms by Daniel Pyne. Non-series. Counterpoint Trade Paperback, June 2010.

After underemployed actor Jack Baylor breaks off an affair with his best friend's wife, he runs off to the California desert community of Twentynine Palms ... only to be drawn into a missing persons investigation in which the local police consider him the prime suspect, in Twentynine Palms, a novel of suspense by Daniel Pyne.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Twentynine Palms by Daniel Pyne.

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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.

Reviews of Mystery and Suspense Books for Kids, New This Week on Book Trends (100814)

Book Trends: Reviews of Young Adult and Children Books

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.

Storm Warning by Linda Sue Park. The 9th and penultimate book in The 39 Clues series, recommended for readers aged 10 to 12. Lexile measure: 630L. Reviewed by a 6th grade teacher, who writes, "The storyline is suspenseful, and clues are embedded in the series through a cryptogram of sorts. Readers of all ages will find enjoyment in The 39 Clues series, and Storm Warning is no exception."

Conspiracy 365: August by Gabrielle Lord. The eighth thriller in the Conspiracy 365 series, recommended for readers aged 10 to 12. Lexile measure: 730L. Reviewed by a 6th grade teacher, who writes, "August is one of the most exciting books in the Conspiracy 365 series. Readers know something is up, but we’re only getting ever to slightly closer to an explanation. There are only four more months left for Cal to figure out the conspiracy that surrounds him. Undoubtedly September will be no less exciting."

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

Mystic Diary: Haunted Island, a New Game of Mystery and Adventure from BFG

Games of Mystery

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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Mystic Diary: Haunted Island
Mystic Diary: Haunted Island

Stop a magician’s ghost and free the trapped souls haunting the Black Woods! Communicate with a trapped ghost, the magician’s very own brother, as he guides you through the manor. Follow Victor’s clues and stop the disturbed Gustav as quickly as you can! Solve cryptic puzzles and put together bizarre machines to unlock the secrets of the house in this incredible hidden object puzzle adventure game!

See also the first game in the series, Mystic Diary: Lost Brother.

Also available: Mystic Diary: Haunted Island Strategy Guide and Mystic Diary: Haunted Island Game Walkthrough.

Mystic Diary: Haunted Island may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (125.19 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, August 13, 2010

New Poster Released for The Town, based on Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan

The Town

About a month ago, a new trailer for The Town, an adaptation of the crime novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan, was released. Now the first poster is available, with the tagline "Welcome to the bank robbery capital of America."

The Town stars Ben Affleck as Doug MacRay, the leader of a ruthless gang of bank robbers, who falls for a hostage he took on their last job -- only she doesn't know he was involved (masks and costumes, as can be seen from the poster, being a big part of their operation).

The Town will be in theaters September 17th.

Nominations for 2010 Shamus Awards Announced

Mystery Book Awards: The Edgars, The Agathas, The Anthonys, and many more.

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

Mystery Bestsellers

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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Burn by Nevada Barr
More information about the book

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:

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg LarssonThe Rembrandt Affair by Daniel SilvaStar Island by Carl HiaasenPrivate by James Patterson

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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