eHarlequin Silhouette Romantic Suspense Titles for January 2011

Sparked by danger, fueled by passion, eHarlequin.com has released the January 2011 titles in their Silhouette Romantic Suspense series. Let yourself be swept away with characters who fall in love under larger-than-life circumstances. In Silhouette Romantic Suspense, suspense, emotion and glamour combine to create these highly charged books! 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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Cowboy Deputy by Carla Cassidy

An unknown darkness walks the streets of Black Rock. With a killer at large, Deputy Benjamin Grayson knows that an elderly man's claims of a supernatural phenomenon won't help matters. Yet what he doesn't know is that summoning the man's only relative will make her a target … one in need of his protection.

Edie Burnett comes to the sleepy Kansas town for her grandfather's sake—not to let down her guard for a handsome lawman. But Benjamin seems determined to prove that her hard-knock life has been void of friendship, passion and security for too long. She wants to be safe in his arms, but when danger closes in she may not get the chance …

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Underground Warrier by Evelyn Vaughn

"He's your enemy."

Those three words echo in Sibyl Daine's mind. Trace Beaudry's father—a member of a powerful secret society, the Comitatus—is responsible for imprisoning her for a crime she didn't commit. She's a hacker, not some thug. She doesn't know where Trace's true loyalties lie, but she soon finds the line between love and hate blurring …

Trace Beaudry is finished paying for his father's sins. But he intends to find answers about the sword he's uncovered—a weapon tied to the Comitatus. All he knows is that he is painfully attracted to sexy Sibyl. Can he get close enough to keep her safe—or will the secrets of the sword kill them both?

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The Sheik's Lost Princess by Linda Conrad

Sheik Shakir Kadir, scarred by warfare and lost love, is ready for the ultimate confrontation. But his deadly mission to bring down his family's archenemy is compromised by the discovery that the princess who destroyed his heart is now a prisoner.

Held captive in a war-ravaged country, Nikki Olivier has her own life-or-death task to complete: bring her kidnapped son home alive. Her only hope is Shakir, the man she's never stopped wanting. Royal obligation had forced her to hurt Shakir and keep the volatile secret that her missing child is also his. Once the truth is revealed, will they create their own family legacy—or will it be their destruction?

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Danger in the Desert by Merline Lovelace

"She who finds it is a messenger from the goddess herself …"

When Jaci Thornton finds a seemingly worthless scarab in a Cairo street, the timid librarian morphs from vacationer to adventurer. Unwittingly, she's fulfilled an ancient Egyptian prophecy, and unless sexy OMEGA agent Deke Griffin can protect her from its consequences, she may end up in Cairo's City of the Dead! Convincing Deke that she's innocent—not a part of a terrorist plot against Egypt—isn't easy. Seducing him is.

Passion must wait, though. With the real terrorists in pursuit of the scarab, Jaci flees with Deke to a deliciously sensual desert hideout. Jaci knows she's playing with fire, but this is her dream trip. Why not take a few scorch marks home as a souvenir?

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The Last Matryoshka by Joyce Yarrow (Book Review)

The Last Matryoshka by Joyce Yarrow. A Jo Epstein Mystery. Five Star Hardcover, December 2010.

There is some interest in following Jo Epstein as she tries to discover the reason her stepfather is being blackmailed, especially when the action transitions from New York City to Russia, but overall, there is little suspense in this mystery.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: The Last Matryoshka by Joyce Yarrow.

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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.

Help Maggie Gold Solve Her Money Problems in Slingo Mystery: The Golden Escape, New 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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The adventure continues! In the previous entry in this series, Maggie Gold tracked down her ex-husband's murderer. Now she seeks to find out why Freddy’s money, which she's inherited, hasn’t solved her problems ... it has just created more! Once you get pulled in to this exciting hidden object game, it will be hard to break free!

See also the first Maggie Gold game, Slingo Mystery: Who's Gold?.

Slingo Mystery: The Golden Escape may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (425.37 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!

A&E Developing Two New Crime Dramas

Deadline|Hollywood is reporting that A&E is developing two light crime dramas, projects that are currently in the cast-contingent pilot stage. Both are compared in style and tone to A&E's most recent success, last summer's The Glades (which has been renewed for a second season).

First is Big Mike, about a plus-sized San Diego police detective who's the best at what he does ... except in the romance department.

The second is Longmire, named for Walt Longmire, the sheriff of northern Wyoming's rural (and fictional) Absaroka County, and based on a character created by crime novelist Craig Johnson. (Although we haven't published it yet, we're including Johnson's most recent mystery in this series, Junkyard Dogs, on our list of the best crime novels of 2010.)

Kirkus Reviews: The Best Mysteries of 2010

Kirkus Reviews has released its "Best of 2010" lists, including its selection of the 15 best mysteries of the year, which are listed below, alphabetically by author.

We've only read a handful of these titles ourselves; our reviews are indicated by the symbol.

C. J. Box: Nowhere To Run, Joe Pickett (10th)
Noah Boyd: The Brick Layer, Steve Vail (1st)
James Lee Burke: The Glass Rainbow, Dave Robicheaux (18th)
Lee Child: Worth Dying For, Jack Reacher (15th)
Jeffery Deaver: Edge, Non-series
Paul Doiron: The Poacher's Son, Mike Bowdith (1st)
Elly Griffiths: The Crossing Places, Ruth Galloway (1st)
Elly Griffiths: The Janus Stone, Ruth Galloway (2nd)
Bryan Gruley: The Hanging Tree, Gus Carpenter (2nd) 
Charles Kipps: Crystal Death, Conor Bard (2nd)
Alexander McCall Smith: The Charming Quirks of Others, Isabel Dalhousie (7th)
Louise Penny: Bury Your Dead, Armand Gamache (7th)
Chevy Stevens: Still Missing, Non-series 
Wallace Stroby: Gone 'Til November, Non-series
Inger Ash Wolfe: The Taken, Hazel Micallef (2nd) 

Crossing the Line by Stephen Jay Schwartz is Today's Featured Free Kindle Mystery

Kindle Mysteries is pleased to feature a mystery title that is currently available in Kindle eBook format for free from Amazon.com. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically only until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so download it today!

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Crossing the Line by Stephen Jay Schwartz
A Hayden Glass Short Story
Forge Books (Kindle eBook)
Download Link

About Crossing the Line (from the publisher): Hayden Glass is on the fast track to making detective with the LAPD, but first he’s got to work his way through Vice. But as any cop can attest, you can’t leave your work at the office, and with Hayden’s cursed and troubled past, his soul is not in the best shape. His marriage is on the rocks and he’s carries a deep guilt and anger that nothing can seem to quench. Until one day he finds something that can make it all go away.

This short story sets the stage for the author's debut novel, Boulevard, and its follow-up, Beat, both following Hayden Glass into crimes unimaginable and personal hells and healing.

Harlequin Intrigue Titles for January 2011

eHarlequin.com has released the January 2011 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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Brandishing a Crown by Rita Herron

He'd come to Wyoming on business, but the moment Prince Stefan Lutece met the beautiful forensics expert, all he could think about was pleasure. Unfortunately, Jane Cameron had a job to do—one that involved missing evidence and possibly murder—and she wasn't falling for Stefan's royal charms. But everything changed when Jane became the target of her own investigation and Stefan, with his military training and commanding presence, her self-imposed guardian. Protecting her 24/7 guaranteed Jane's survival…and stirred up the attraction practically burning between them. Stefan guaranteed he'd keep Jane out of the line of fire—but not out of his big, lonely bed.

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The Texas Lawman's Last Stand by Delores Fossen

Texas lawman Bo Duggan got the shock of his life when Mattie Collier showed up on his doorstep, claiming his daughter was really hers and not his son's twin. But before Bo could argue, Mattie became a gunman's target and duty compelled him to protect her. After getting the children to safety and then going on the run, Bo couldn't help but admire the way Mattie wouldn't back down—from a fight and from believing she was his baby's mother. Bo had trouble imagining a life without the little girl he'd given his heart to. And before long, he had to admit, he had trouble imagining living without her mother, too.

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Twilight Warrior by Aimee Thurlo

The past could never truly be left behind, and Detective Travis Blacksheep had learned that lesson well. His past had brought him back to the Navajo Nation and kept him devoted to his ancestral traditions. But now a faded memory stood on his doorstep asking for help—the woman he had never been able to forget.

Laura Perry was back in Three Rivers to catch a serial killer, and she was willing to use herself as bait. Without Travis protecting her, she'd be an easy target. But keeping Laura alive was easier than keeping his hands off her. And with a relentless predator on their trail, distractions weren't something either of them could afford …

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Guns and the Girl Next Door by HelenKay Dimon

Agent Holden Price didn't have to go far to find his next case—it crashed right into his living room! Not only had the beautiful blonde lost control of her car, but if she was telling the truth, someone was also trying to kill her. As a recovery agent, he had an obligation to investigate. And he couldn't deny that Mia Landers interested him more than she should.

Nothing made sense to Mia—especially not the attempt on her life. All she could do was trust Holden, the tall, dark and devastating agent who discovered that he and Mia had a common enemy … and a fierce attraction. But in order to act on it, they'd first have to come face-to-face with their darkest fears and a deadly revelation that might put their newfound love on the line.

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Solid as Steele by Rebecca York

P.I. Mack Steele had loved Jamie Shepherd from the moment he'd met her … but she'd always been off-limits—until her frantic phone call reached out to him in the dead of night …

Jamie couldn't deny her fear when her "gift" returned. Her disturbing dreams were too real—trapped in a macabre fun house, a woman needed her help. Nor could Jamie deny her forbidden attraction to her dark, sexy protector. Lured back to the hometown she'd long ago escaped, Jamie had only Mack to save her from her dreams … and the very real, very twisted killer who'd lured her into his game. But would Mack be enough?

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Mountain Midwife by Cassie Miles

Kidnapped, blindfolded and driven to a desolate Rocky Mountain lodge—for midwife Rachel Devon it's the most terrifying birth she has ever attended to. But now that the baby's mother is dead, it's up to Rachel to get the child to safety. Much to Rachel's surprise, one of the kidnappers helps her escape. Cole McClure claims to be an undercover FBI agent, though Rachel doesn't trust him for a minute. He's got that sexy bad-boy edge, the type Rachel's been burned by way too often. But Cole comes through and with a blizzard bearing down on them, with killers and cops hot on their trail, they team up to find this innocent baby a home. And try to resist temptation when they're "forced" to share a bed through the cold winter nights …

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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:

The Insane Train by Sheldon Russell (Book Review)

The Insane Train by Sheldon Russell. A Hook Runyon Mystery. Minotaur Books Hardcover, November 2010.

There's a constant sense of unease here that adds an underlying layer of tension and suspense to the events as they unfold. Train aficionados, history buffs, and anyone who enjoys a good story well told will be taken in by this solidly crafted mystery.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: The Insane Train by Sheldon Russell.

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Read the first chapters of The Insane Train below.

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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.

OMN Welcomes Mel Gilden and Introduces PI Turner Cronyn

Omnimystery News is delighted to welcome Mel Gilden as our guest blogger. Mel's first mystery in a new series featuring PI Turner Cronyn is Dangerous Hardboiled Magicians (Amazon Digital Services, September 2010 Kindle Edition).

Today, Mel writes about how magicians become hardboiled.

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Photo provided courtesy of
Mel Gilden

One summer while in my twenties I went to the Clarion Science Fiction Writers Workshop in Clarion, Pennsylvania. While there I sold my first short story. Which was encouraging, but the sale turned out to be not as important as a piece of advice given to the students by Robin Scott Wilson, the man who ran the workshop. He advised us to read outside our genre. In particular, he advised us to read books by Raymond Chandler, a mystery writer who was a master of description and character-building.

I took Robin's advice and became quite a fan of Mr. Chandler's work. My favorite of his books is Farewell, My Lovely, a story which contains some of the best characters ever: the bear-like and soulful bank robber, Moose Malloy; and Jessie Florian, a obscene drunk of a woman. You wouldn't want to know either of these people in real life, but as characters in a novel they are spectacular.

The peculiar collision of science fiction and mystery always appealed to me (I also once wrote a science fiction western, but that's another story) and so it was that when, many years later, I was asked by a book packager to write a mystery novel based on a piece of artwork he had lying around, I chose Chandler's work as a model and then decided to add a few speculative elements. The packager wanted the novel to be called Surfing Samurai Robots, and so it was. My hero called himself Zoot Marlowe; he was an alien from another planet who came to earth to solve crimes like his hero -- guess who. The book was fairly popular and spawned two sequels. To this day, when I appear someplace to sign my work, Surfing Samurai Robots is one of the books I inevitably sign. And I still get email from fans asking me to write more adventures of Zoot and his robot companion, Bill.

But I can't.

Oh, I'd love to, and there is no shortage of ideas, but because I wrote the Zoot books for a packager I don't own the rights to the books or to any of the characters in them. As you might imagine, this irked me considerably. So I did what any writer might do in similar circumstances: I wrote a novel that was kinda sorta like Surfing Samurai Robots but different.

Originally I called this new novel With Gods Like These, which I thought of as the first part of the question: With Gods like these, who needs enemies? Then it occurred to me that I was missing a bet. It was possible that by changing the name of the book to Dangerous Hardboiled Magicians I could key into the psyches of all those readers who had enjoyed Surfing Samurai Robots. So far, no one has admitted that he or she purchased the book because of the similarity in titles, but I am still hopeful about my strategy. You never know when somebody is going to like a title just because it contains three interesting words.

The hero of Dangerous Hardboiled Magicians is Turner Cronyn, a guy who became a hardboiled PI after he washed out of the wizard academy. In his first adventure he needs to avoid supernatural creatures who want him dead for reasons that are not clear until much later. Meanwhile he is helped by a beautiful woman who may or may not be a goddess.

Dangerous Hardboiled Magicians is available at the Kindle Store of Amazon.com. You can read the first chapter for free. Seems like a deal.

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Mel Gilden is also a writer of books for children and adults. He is a member of Science-Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime. To demonstrate that he remains a force for good in our time Gilden lectures to school and library groups, and has been known to teach fiction writing. He lives in Los Angeles, California, and still hopes to be an astronaut when he grows up. Visit his website at MelGilden.com and "friend" him on Facebook.

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About Dangerous Hardboiled Magicians: Cowabunga, schweatheart! A book in the manner of Surfing Samurai Robots!

In a Los Angeles that is something like ours but more magical, PI Turner Cronyn doesn't know why he has been threatened by a supernatural being. Does it have anything to do with the fact that zombies who look like him are turning up all over town?

But there is a bright side to his life, too. A beautiful woman seems determined to help with his investigations. Is she a goddess or does she just look like one?

New Poster for The Lincoln Lawyer, Adapted from the Novel by Michael Connelly

Last month a teaser trailer for the film adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer was released. Now we have the first poster for the film, depicting star Matthew McConnaughey as the Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller sitting atop his office -- a Lincoln Town Car.

Written by Michael Connelly in 2005, The Lincoln Lawyer introduces the character, who lands the case of his career: defending Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe), a Beverly Hills playboy accused of rape and attempted murder. But the seemingly straightforward case suddenly develops into a deadly game of survival for Haller.

The novel won the 2006 Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel and the 2006 Shamus Award for Best P. I. Hardcover.

The film opens in theaters March 18th, 2011.

First Promotional Photo of John Cusask as Edgar Allan Poe in The Raven

Back in August we learned that John Cusack had been cast as Edgar Allan Poe in a fictional account of the last five days of his life in which he is pursuing a serial killer whose murders mirror those in the writer's stories. The Huffington Post now has what we believe to be the first promotional photo from the film, titled The Raven. (Click on the photo for a larger version.)

Directed by James McTeigue from a screenplay by Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare, The Raven is expected to be released next year.