First Clues, Mysteries for Kids: New Titles for November 2010

First Clues: Mysteries for Kids is pleased to announce a selection of new mystery, suspense and thriller books (including series books) scheduled for publication during November 2010, listed in approximate order of reading level, from books for younger readers to books for teens.

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Big Hairy Drama 
Aaron Reynolds
A Joey Fly, Private Eye Mystery, 2nd in series

A cold snap has blown into town like an unwanted house pest. But there’s only one guy in the bug city with the power to put crime permanently on ice: Joey Fly, Private Eye. He’s always on the lookout for trouble, and he runs into it when he meets Harry Spyderson, proprietor of the Scarab Beetle Theatre and director of the much-anticipated Bugliacci.

Greta Divawing, the four-winged, long-legged leading lady, has gone missing. Harry hires Joey Fly and his assistant, Sammy Stingtail to crack the case. Can they find Greta in time to save the show?

These graphic format mysteries are recommended for readers aged 7 to 9.

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Thea Stilton and the Mystery in Paris 
Thea Stilton
A Geronimo Stilton Special Edition Mystery with Thea Stilton, 3rd in series

In this exciting adventure, the Thea Sisters are off to Paris to visit Colette's fashion-designer friend Julie. But when Julie's designs are suddenly stolen, the girls must search the city of Paris to catch the thief and save the fashion show.

Readers will love following the clues to help the Thea Sisters solve the mystery!

Geronimo Stilton mysteries are recommended for readers aged 7 to 9.

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The Cupcake Caper 
Gertrude Chandler Warner
A Boxcar Children Mystery, 125th in series

It's a delicious new mystery with the Boxcar Children as they help catch a cupcake thief!

Mama Tova's shop in Greenfield is so famous that every day, people line up around the block to buy her cupcakes. But when someone breaks into her kitchen, it's clear that her secret recipe is in danger. The Aldens follow the suspects to a bake-off where they must find the culprit using their mystery-solving skills -- and their taste buds, too!

Boxcar Children mysteries are recommended for readers aged 7 to 9.

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Grounded 
Kate Klise
Non-series

After her brother, sister, and father die in a plane crash, Daralynn Oakland receives 237 dolls from well-wishers, resulting in her nickname: Dolly. But dolls are little comfort to a twelve-year-old girl whose world is rocked by the dramatic changes in her life, including her angry, grieving mother’s new job as a hairstylist at the local funeral home.

Dolly gets a job, too, where she accidentally invents a fashionable new haircut. But her real work begins when a crematorium comes to town, and someone has to save a dying business, solve a burning mystery, and resuscitate the broken hearts in Digginsville, Missouri, population 402.

This novel recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.

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The South Street Gang vs. the Coalcracker Cyclops 
Richard Benyo
Non-series

When Bob Capek’s mother is killed in a hit-and-run accident in 1956, his father moves the family from Virginia back to his hometown of Mauch Chunk, a small town in the middle of the eastern Pennsylvania anthracite coal region. From the moment Bob boards the northbound train, the life he knew before comes to an end—and another, more harrowing one begins.

Soon after arriving in Mauch Chunk, Bob is threatened by a notorious cross-town gang, the Center Street Scorpions. As if that’s not enough, Bob also initiates a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with the cruelest, most diabolical man in town, the Cyclops—a greedy mine owner who will stop at nothing, including murder, to own every coal mine in the county. But Bob is determined to put a stop to the Cyclops’s sinister schemes—and the results are explosive.

This novel is recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.

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Neil Flambe and the Aztec Abduction 
Kevin Sylvester
A Neil Flambe Caper, 2nd in series

Fresh off his success in solving the Marco Polo murders, Neil Flambé heads to Mexico City to take part in the Azteca Cocina — a two-week battle of the chefs. But things start to go wrong at the very first battle. Neil’s box of secret ingredients contains more than he bargained for. There’s a note inside, telling him that Isabella has been kidnapped. He must lose in the final, or else she’ll be killed.

The kidnappers are obviously having fun — with every ransom note they send, they include a lock of Isabella’s hair, not realizing how clever their captive really is! Knowing that Neil and his super-nose will be looking for her, Isabella does what she can to help, rubbing her hair in the smelliest thing she can find at each location. Neil can smell garbage, flowers, and animals, but this only helps him find out where Isabella has already been — not where’s she heading next!

In order to solve this mystery, Neil will need Larry's knowledge of Mexican history and Spanish, Sean Nakamura's portable forensic lab, and Angel Jicama's mentorship. He’ll have to delve into Aztec history, symbolism, and even into the real ruins that are buried under the modern city. But will he figure it all out in time?

The mysteries in this series are recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.

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Virals 
Kathy Reichs
Non-series

Tory Brennan, niece of acclaimed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (featured in the "Bones" adult mysteries by this author and the Fox television show Bones), is the leader of a ragtag band of teenage "sci-philes" who live on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina. When the group rescues a dog caged for medical testing on a nearby island, they are exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus that changes their lives forever.

As the friends discover their heightened senses and animal-quick reflexes, they must combine their scientific curiosity with their newfound physical gifts to solve a cold-case murder that has suddenly become very hot -- if they can stay alive long enough to catch the killer's scent.

Fortunately, they are now more than friends -- they're a pack. They are Virals.

This forensic thriller is recommended for readers aged 13 and older.

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The Back Door of Midnight 
Elizabeth Chandler
Non-series

Psychic ... or psychotic?

Anna knows her family is crazy. But when she goes to visit her aunt and uncle for the summer and learns that her uncle’s charred body has been found, her life reaches a new level of insanity. Her erratic aunt’s “psychic” abilities are exaggerated by her grief, and have become borderline violent. Alone in an unfamiliar town, Anna struggles to pick up the pieces and establish any sense of normalcy. She desperately wants to trust Zack, the cute boy next door, but even he might know more about the incident than he is letting on.

But when Anna starts feeling an inexplicable pull to the site of her uncle’s murder, she begins to believe that her family’s supernatural gifts are real after all. Torn between loyalty and suspicion, Anna is certain of only one thing: she must discover who killed her uncle or she could be next …

This novel is recommended for readers aged 13 and older.

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Conspiracy 365: November 
Gabrielle Lord
A Conspiracy 365 Thriller

The penultimate novel in this 12 volume series.

On New Year's Eve, Callum Ormond is chased down the street by a crazed man with a deadly warning: They killed your father. They'll kill you. You must survive the next 365 days. Cal is fighting for his sister's life. But nobody believes the "psycho kid" and he's running out of people he can trust. He doesn't even know which of his enemies he's facing. How many hard-won treasures will he have to relinquish in return for his sister's safety?

The thrillers in this series are recommended for readers aged 13 and older.

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First Clues: Mysteries for Kids is your source for information on over 200 mystery series for children and young adults, where each series is conveniently listed under four different age categories (New Sleuths, ages 4 to 6; Future Sleuths, ages 7 to 9; Sleuths in Training, ages 10 to 12; and Apprentice Sleuths, ages 13 and older).

New Behind-the-Scenes Featurette for the Harry Potter Films

A new behind-the-scenes featurette to the Harry Potter series of films was released on Yahoo! movies yesterday.

This video includes scenes from all the films, and provides an interesting, if brief, backdrop to the next film in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, which hits theaters November 19th.

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Visit Cinemystery to discover a library of TV and film adaptations currently available on DVD and Blu-ray disc.

OMN Welcomes Julie Ann Howell, Author of Haunted Echoes

Omnimystery News is thrilled to welcome Julie Ann Howell as our guest blogger. Julie Ann is the author of Haunted Echoes (The Peppertree Press, January 2010 Hardcover, 978-1-936051-69-4), an old-fashioned ghost story.

Today, Julie Ann provides some background information for her book. And she''s also providing our readers with an opportunity to win a copy of her book. Visit Mystery Book Contests, click on the "Julie Ann Howell: Haunted Echoes" contest link, enter your name, e-mail address, and this code (1779) for a chance to win! (One entry per person; contest ends November 09, 2010.)

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Photo provided courtesy of
Julie Ann Howell

Ask a writer what they would rather be doing at any given time, and most often the answer would be “writing.”

Most writers dream of “just writing,” as their characters, settings and story lines are always swirling around in their heads. Having the luxury of putting those down on paper is the best feeling of accomplishment.

In my case, I am a night owl through and through. I love writing in the middle of the night when the house is quiet and my thoughts can actually make it to paper. I find it truly inspiring—and just a little bit scary, which is even more fun.

There are so many things that go through my head when I sit behind my keyboard. I vividly remember typing the “Whodunit” part in my book and being incredibly shocked at what my fingers typed. I even found myself saying “What??!!” out loud, questioning myself and staring at my fingertips in disbelief. I actually had no idea what was going to happen, which is great, as most writers map out their entire books before they type a word. But I like to let my fingers do the work and the characters do the talking. That is what works for me.

My readers often ask me how I came up with my setting for Haunted Echoes. I love small towns and lighthouses and since I wanted my character, Sarah Reddington and her dog Dickens, to stay in a Victorian style Bed and Breakfast, I chose Maine. I did my research and discovered a sleepy little town on the craggy shore just outside Portland. Cape Elizabeth was the perfect place for my characters to hang out for 200 pages. I have never been to Maine and I would love to visit someday, however I think it’s best to keep the image of how I actually see it strictly fiction.

Haunted houses intrigue me. I suppose you can say that ghostly tales were instilled in me since I was a little girl, compliments of my great-grandma whose tales sort of followed me as a grown-up. I know there is another haunted tale in me: I can feel it. Just recently I had one of my readers email me his quote about what he thought after reading my novel. It was short and to the point. Simply put he said. “The only thing I have to say is when is the sequel coming out?” This was intriguing to say the least, a great compliment. I had never really considered a sequel until I read this quote.

And now, the answer is yes. Words and characters are now whispering in my head preparing to form sentences onto paper for the sequel to Haunted Echoes. The working title, Whispers From Beyond ...

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Julie Ann is not only the publisher and founder of her own literary magazine and book publishing company, she is also an avid speaker where she has the opportunity to travel to a variety of writers groups, schools and organizations. The author of several children's books, Haunted Echoes is her first novel. Visit her website at JulieAnnHowell.com.

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About Haunted Echoes: Sarah Reddington traveled to far-away Maine to escape the chaos of the windy city. She wanted to concentrate on completing her novel and enjoy the peaceful quiet of the Atlantic's craggy shore. Although she was the only registered guest staying in an elegant, but quaint Victorian Inn, subsequent events quickly placed her writing on hold. The haunting cries that echoed around her made her question not only her own mortality, but made it difficult for her to decipher between fiction and insanity.

For a chance to win a copy of Haunted Echoes, courtesy of the author, visit Mystery Book Contests, click on the "Julie Ann Howell: Haunted Echoes" contest link, and enter your name, e-mail address, and this code (1779) in the entry form. (One entry per person; contest ends November 09, 2010.)

Join the CSI Team to Solve Five New Cases in CSI: Fatal Conspiracy

Five connected cases allow players to experience an authentic crime-solving video game with real CSI characters, heart-pounding interrogations and enhanced graphics, in CSI: Fatal Conspiracy, which releases tomorrow, Tuesday October 26th, 2010.

Be prepared to work with your CSI partners to solve murder cases and uncover the fatal conspiracy behind the crimes you investigate. Collect evidence at the crime scene, search for items that might be related to the case and unveil hidden evidence through observation. Interview witnesses and suspects with an improved interrogation system for more realistic character interaction. Analyze the evidence with the latest technology, and use new ultrasound and high-tech SLR camera technology in the game. Share your evidence with high-resolution photos.

Four versions are being released: CSI: Fatal Conspiracy (Windows PC version), CSI: Fatal Conspiracy (Nintendo Wii version), CSI: Fatal Conspiracy (Xbox 360 version), and CSI: Fatal Conspiracy (PlayStation 3 version).

Watch the trailer for the game below:

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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!

The Girl Who Played with Fire (Swedish-language version), New This Week on DVD and Blu-ray Disc

Cinemystery, your source for information on TV series, made-for-television movies, and films adapted from novels of mystery and suspense, which are now available on DVD or Blu-ray disc, is profiling a new release scheduled for this week.

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Adapted from the novel The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson, The Girl Who Played with Fire (Swedish-language version, DVD) features Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) as a wanted woman.

A researcher and a Millennium journalist about to expose the truth about the sex trade in Sweden are brutally murdered, and Salander's prints are on the weapon. Her history of unpredictable and violent behavior makes her an official danger to society. Mikael Bloomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), Salander's friend and Millennium's publisher, is alone in his belief of Salander's innocence.

Digging deeper Bloomkvist unearths evidence implicating highly placed members of Swedish Society -- as well as shocking details about Salander's past. He is desperate to get to her before she is cornered -- but no one can find her anywhere.

The Girl Who Played with Fire runs 129 minutes and is rated R.

Also available: The Girl Who Played with Fire (Swedish-language version, Blu-ray disc).

Sony's Columbia Pictures has acquired the English-language film rights to the Millennium trilogy, with production underway for the adaptation of the first book in the series, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.

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Visit the Cinemystery website to discover more TV and film adaptations currently available on DVD and Blu-ray disc.

CSI: NY and Law & Order UK, New This Week on DVD plus Poirot on Blu-ray Disc

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 plus one made-for-television movie being released this week.

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CSI: NY is the third spin-off of the popular Crime Scene Investigation franchise. A team of police forensics specialists is led by Detective Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise), who use high-tech science to follow the evidence and solve crimes in the Big Apple.

The New York CSIs may have a different process from those in Las Vegas or Miami, but they are guided by the same steadfast determination. These skilled investigators follow the evidence as they piece together clues and eliminate doubt, to ultimately crack their cases.

These are the final cases for Detective Stella Bonasera (Melina Kanakaredes), who was Taylor's partner for the series first six seasons.

The CSI: NY: Season Six DVD set of 7 discs contain the 23 episodes that aired on CBS from September 2009 through May 2010.

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Law & Order UK is the British version of the original, a gritty look at crime in London. Each episode is divided into two parts: investigation of a crime followed by the court proceedings to try the case.

The Law & Order UK: Season One DVD set of 3 discs contain the 13 episodes that comprise the first two seasons of the series as it aired in the UK, from February through March 2009 and from January through February 2010.

(Strictly speaking, this is not a "new" release. This DVD set has been available prior to its general release tmorrow exclusively at Target stores in the US.)

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Several weeks ago, a movie collection of Poirot was released that included an adaptation of the classic Murder on the Orient Express starring David Suchet as Hercule Poirot.

The studio is now releasing that film separately as Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express (Blu-ray disc).

As our reviewer noted in his review of the film, "There will probably be few viewers of the episode who don't know the story, yet the direction manages to retain a high level of suspense. There are a few changes from the book, most notably in some characters but also in how the conclusion is structured. Still, this is a remarkable episode and definitely one not to miss."

Read his complete review of this episode at Mr. E. Reviews Poirot: The Movie Collection 5.

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

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for October 25, 2010

A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle 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!).

This week's letters and mystery clue:

A C E H I N R S W

He is the author of the Good Thief’s Guide series of mysteries (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!

Mr. E. Reviews Premonition

Premonition has one of those plots where it's hard to talk too much about it without giving some of the twists away. Despite a number of plot holes -- and an ending that should have been left on the cutting room floor -- I enjoyed and recommended it ... as long as one is willing to accept the concept of a non-linear storyline where events in the present may depend on what happens, not necessarily in the past, but also in the future.

Read the full text of our review at Mr. E. Reviews: Premonition.

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

Roast Mortem by Cleo Coyle (Book Review)

Roast Mortem by Cleo Coyle. A Clare Cosi Coffeehouse Mystery. Berkley Prime Crime Hardcover, August 2010.

Manhattan coffeehouse owner Clare Cosi is drawn into an investigation of area cafés that have been targeted by an arsonist in Roast Mortem, the ninth mystery in this series by Cleo Coyle.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Roast Mortem by Cleo Coyle.

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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.

Danse Macabre by Gerald Elias (Book Review)

Danse Macabre by Gerald Elias. A Daniel Jacobus Mystery. Minotaur Books Hardcover, August 2010.

Aging, blind, and irascible violin teacher Daniel Jacobus reluctantly agrees to assist with the defense of a man accused of murder -- even though Daniel himself is convinced he's guilty -- in Danse Macabre, the second mystery in this series by Gerald Elias.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Danse Macabre by Gerald Elias.

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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.

Sherlock Holmes in A Study in Pink, Sunday October 24th on PBS Masterpiece Mystery!

Tomorrow, Sunday October 24th, the first of three episodes of Series I of Sherlock airs on PBS Masterpiece Mystery! (check your local listings for air times).

Sherlock Holmes stalks again in a thrilling contemporary version of the Victorian-era whodunits based on characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the go-to consulting detective in 21st-century London, with Martin Freeman as his loyal friend, Dr. John Watson, and Rupert Graves as the long-suffering Detective Inspector Lestrade.

In "A Study in Pink", Holmes and Watson meet. Watson is back in modern-day London after serving in the war in Afghanistan. His therapist, convinced that Watson is plagued by violent memories, urges him to express himself in a blog. But nothing much ever happens to Watson, and it's not that he's haunted by the war — he longs for it. Enter an eccentric roommate — one Sherlock Holmes. He plays the violin when he's thinking, sometimes doesn't talk for days, and has a dubious career as a self-described consulting detective. When what appear to be serial suicide cases surface in London, a desperate Detective Inspector Lestrade reluctantly consults the freakish Sherlock. To Sherlock, a crime spree is like Christmas — only made better by the possibility that these crimes may be the work of a devious serial killer. The game is on, and before it is over, Sherlock will put his life on the line — all to keep from being bored to death.

This first series of Sherlock will be released on DVD and Blu-ray disc on November 9th, 2010, and is available to pre-order from Telemystery: Sherlock. It will also be available to watch online from October 25th through December 7th, 2010.

Watch a preview for the series below:

Four Brass Bancroft Mysteries Starring Ronald Reagan, Now Available on DVD

As much as we like to think we know a lot about mysteries, rarely does a day go by that we don't learn something new. Like today, when we found out Ronald Reagan starred in a series of four mystery movies during his third year as a Warner Bros. contract player.

40 years before becoming our President, Reagan starred as another Federal employee, Lt. “Brass” Bancroft, a stalwart Secret Service agent who risked life and limb to bring to justice illegal alien smugglers, counterfeiters and enemy spies.

Warner Bros. has collected these films into Brass Bancroft of the Secret Service: Mysteries Collection, a made-to-order DVD set that is now available to ship. The films are Secret Service of the Air (1939), Code of the Secret Service (1939), Smashing the Money Ring (1939), and Murder in the Air (1940).

Little Noir Stories and the PuppetShow Sequel, New This Week 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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Little Noir Stories: The Case of the Missing Girl

Lured to an old 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 Muller and Chandler through a multi-layered investigation where nothing is quite black or white. Everything is connected, and everyone has a story to tell.

ESRB Rating: Not Specified.

Windows Vista/XP (155 MB download).

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PuppetShow 2: The Souls of the Innocent

Return to the terrifying PuppetShow in this spooky sequel! A young girl has been asleep for over two days, and the local doctors are at a loss. The townspeople believe her condition to be a curse emanating from a dark magician's castle in the mountains, so it's up to you to track down the cause of the curse and save the Souls of the Innocent! Dive into in this dark and mysterious hidden object game.

See also the first game in this series, PuppetShow: Mystery of Joyville.

ESRB Rating: Not Specified.

Windows Vista/XP (241 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!

Tom Selleck Talks (briefly) about the 7th and 8th Jesse Stone Movies

We've closely followed the progress of the Jesse Stone series of made-for-television movies, based on the Robert B. Parker character and starring Tom Selleck.

Last May, the 6th Jesse Stone film, No Remorse, aired on CBS. We knew even then there would be a 7th in the series; titled Innocents Lost, as it was filmed in the fall of 2009 and is awaiting an air date by CBS.

When Selleck was hired for his current series, Blue Bloods, we were concerned that might be the end of Jesse Stone. But last August, the actor put those fears to rest, saying, "[W]e're writing number eight, which we don't have a title for yet. So yes, there's going to be more Jesse Stones."

All good news. But with the extension of Blue Bloods to a full season, we were once again concerned that Selleck might back-burner Jesse Stone. In an interview published yesterday with TV Guide, Selleck remarked on this, saying the 7th will air next spring and adding, "Hopefully, Blue Bloods will get renewed [for a second season] and we'll shoot [Jesse Stone's] No. 8 during the next hiatus."

Our takeaway message from this is that Jesse Stone is still on track! The 7th, Innocents Lost, will likely air on CBS next February or May (during sweeps); Tom Selleck will film the 8th, currently untitled (at least as far as we know), sometime after Blue Bloods finishes its first season production, with the episode airing on CBS in the spring of 2012.

Reviews of Mystery and Suspense Books for Kids, New This Week on Book Trends (101023)

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/thriller category.

Over the Edge by Norah McClintock. A Chloe & Levesque mystery (1st in series), recommended for readers aged 10 to 12. Lexile measure: 690L. Reviewed by a 6th grade student, who writes, "I enjoyed this book because of its suspense and excitement. It’s very hard to stop reading once you get into the middle of the book. ... The ending was very surprising, and I could not believe it."

A Taste for Red by Lewis Harris. A stand-alone novel for readers aged 10 to 12. Lexile measure: 720L. Reviewed by a 6th grade student, who writes, "What I like about this book is how the author has Svetlana talk directly to the reader. Svetlana basically narrates the book. I like how she interrupts her conversation with someone else in the book and talks to you. Honestly, I liked almost everything about the book."

For more reviews of children and young adult books of all genres, visit Book Trends; their reviews will amaze you! You can also follow Book Trends on Twitter.