Harlequin Worldwide Mystery Titles for March 2011

eHarlequin.com has released the list of March 2011 titles for their Worldwide Mystery imprint, your partner in crime. Amateur sleuths, traditional cozies, police procedurals and private-eye fiction, written by award-winning authors.

For more information about the book from eHarlequin.com, click on the title or cover.

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Grave Injustice by Glen Ebisch
Non-Series

Reports of a sea monster lurking in the waters of a New England lake lure journalists Amanda Vickers and Marcie Ducasse to West Windham, Maine—and into a story involving murder. A wealthy widower holds a séance hoping to identify the killer of his beautiful and much younger bride. During the eerie event, the medium reveals that a clue is hidden in the wife's coffin.

Soon afterward, the dead woman's mausoleum is broken into, and Amanda and Marcie become curious about the victim, whose many affairs threatened to create scandal. Did one of her lovers kill her in a fit of jealousy? Or did her bitter stepson take fatal steps to ensure there would be no rivals for his father's estate? When another murder occurs, Amanda and Marcie realize they're hunting for a very real, undeniably human monster.

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 Embarking on Murder by Sue Owens Wright
A Beanie and Cruiser Mystery (3rd in series)

For her birthday bash, Elsie "Beanie" MacBean gets a scenic Lake Tahoe dinner cruise on the Dixie Queen with her daughter and friends. But the evening is disrupted by an arguing couple—a twenty-three-year-old trophy wife and her much older husband. When the wife falls overboard, Beanie's onto a mystery … and possibly, a murder.

No body is recovered, but the woman is presumed dead, and Beanie's reporter instincts jump into overdrive. Working on a story surrounding the search for Lake Tahoe's own "Tessie" sea monster with a famous paleontologist, Beanie and her loyal basset hound, Cruiser, get to spend time on the water. And she discovers a few shocking insights into the drama aboard the Dixie Queen. But her curiosity draws unwanted attention, and now someone very dangerous plans to make sure Beanie takes her story to a watery grave.

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Banker's Alibi by Ilsa Mayr
Non-Series

Working undercover in a small Indiana bank, apprentice private investigator Cybil Quindt is looking for an embezzler. But when a vivacious young teller dies under mysterious circumstances, Cybil suspects she may be hunting for a killer. The woman's death appears to be a suicide, but the facts don't add up. And when Cybil does a little snooping around the victim's apartment, she's knocked unconscious and tossed into the cold depths of a lake.

Was the teller connected to the missing bank money? Or might the woman's death have something to do with her mystery lover—a very married man? The deeper Cybil digs into the case, the more convoluted it becomes: a tangle of blackmail, secrets and desperation. But when another teller is strangled, Cybil feels her luck running out, and races to expose a murderer before she's forced to cash out … for good.

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Love, Deadly Love by Dorothy Bodoin
Non-Series

New to the bucolic small town of Maple Creek, Linnet Shellwin looks forward to teaching at the local middle school and enjoying her picturesque pink-and-white Victorian home. But her exciting new life soon proves far from inviting. A disconnected phone keeps ringing at odd hours in a house that Linnet discovers is haunted by murder. Someone poisoned the previous owner with arsenic-laced cherry tarts.

Soon, the hang-up calls carry a disembodied voice warning her of danger. Is this a cruel trick … or something supernatural? As the students in her fourth-period class at school turn from unruly to downright dangerous, Linnet isn't sure if she's going crazy or being stalked. But with time running out and danger closing in, she knows that, real or not, someone—or something—wants her dead.

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World Premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Set for July 7th in London's Trafalgar Square

If you're going to be in London the first week of July, and are a Harry Potter fan, this news might interest you: Warner Bros. announced this morning that the world premiere of the eighth and final installment in the Harry Potter film series will be held in Trafalgar Square.

The cast and crew of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 will begin the evening of July 7 on the red carpet at the historic landmark in central London before moving to nearby Leicester Square for the screening. (You can read the full press release here.)

The film, adapted from the novel by J. K. Rowling, is scheduled to premiere in US theaters July 15th.

Firsts on the 1st: New Series Characters Being Introduced in March 2011 Mysteries

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books recently updated its list of March 2011 hardcover mysteries as well as shelved new March paperbacks on The Mystery Bookshelf.

In this series of monthly posts, which we call Firsts on the 1st, we're introducing readers to new series characters who will make their mysterious debut during March.

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Title: Deadly Currents
Author: Beth Groundwater
Series Character: Mandy Tanner
Format: Trade Paperback

What we know about the character: Mandy Tanner is a river ranger along the Arkansas River in Colorado.

Her first case: The Arkansas River, heart and soul of Salida, Colorado, fuels the small town’s economy. When a whitewater rafting accident occurs, Mandy deftly executes a rescue, but a man dies anyway. Turns out, it wasn’t the rapids that killed him — he was murdered. Tom King was a rich land developer with bitter business rivals, who cheated on his wife, refused to support his kayak-obsessed son, and infuriated environmentalists.

Mandy’s world is upended again when tragedy strikes closer to home. Suspicious that the most recent death is connected to Tom King’s murder, Mandy goes on an emotionally turbulent quest for the truth — and ends up in dangerous waters.

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Title: Babe Ruth Is Missing
Author: Saul Isler
Series Character: Ovid Kent
Format: Trade Paperback

What we know about the character: Ovid Kent is a San Francisco-based rare book and autograph dealer.

His first case: Ovid is hired to find and return the prized autograph of Babe Ruth stolen from the autistic son of a famous nonagenarian trial lawyer. After a legendary sturgeon sends him to the hospital, where he falls in love with his intake nurse, he begins a fruitless search of the Bay Area. The search leads him to Cleveland where the lawyer’s son had secured the Babe’s signature half a century earlier. There, with the help of the ethereal and nagging Babe himself, Ovid finds the thief, the autograph and a bonus: his estranged mother.

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Title: Beaglemania
Author: Linda O. Johnston
Series Character: Lauren Vancouver, Pet Rescue
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: Lauren Vancouver runs HotRescues, a private no-kill animal shelter in Granada Hills, California.

Her first case: It's often human nature that puts Lauren in the path of danger. Just like when she helps rescue four adorable beagle puppies that were dumped down a drainpipe at a nasty puppy mill. One of the mill's employees has a history of dog abuse — and a bone to pick with Lauren. And when he's found dead at HotRescues after threatening her, Lauren will have to sniff out the real killer to keep herself out of a cage ...

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Title: The Sticking Place
Author: T. B. Smith
Series Character: Luke Jones
Format: Trade Paperback

What we know about the character: Luke Jones is a rookie cop in San Diego (California).

His first case: It's 1978 in "America's Finest City" — San Diego, California — and one rookie cop is learning the hardest lessons the streets have to teach. Luke — a recently graduated, Shakespeare quoting literature major — is about to discover that dealing with crooks is the easiest part of his new job. For here, in a world populated by people ruled by their obsessions, Luke's strong will and quick tongue alienate many of his senior officers and he must fight to be accepted. Although eventually labeled a hero, his success comes at great cost.

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Title: The Informationist
Author: Taylor Stevens
Series Character: Vanessa "Michael" Munroe
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: Vanessa "Michael" Munroe deals in information—expensive information—working for corporations, heads of state, private clients, and anyone else who can pay for her unique brand of expertise.

Her first case: Born to missionary parents in lawless central Africa, Munroe took up with an infamous gunrunner and his mercenary crew when she was just fourteen. As his protégé, she earned the respect of the jungle's most dangerous men, cultivating her own reputation for years until something sent her running. After almost a decade building a new life and lucrative career from her home base in Dallas, she's never looked back.

Until now.

A Texas oil billionaire has hired her to find his daughter who vanished in Africa four years ago. It’s not her usual line of work, but she can’t resist the challenge. Pulled deep into the mystery of the missing girl, Munroe finds herself back in the lands of her childhood, betrayed, cut off from civilization, and left for dead. If she has any hope of escaping the jungle and the demons that drive her, she must come face-to-face with the past that she’s tried for so long to forget.

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Title: What Are Friends For?
Author: Caroline Taylor
Series Character: P. J. Smythe
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: P. J. Smythe is an Annapolis skip tracer, who tracks down loan defaulters.

Her first case: 2003. Rescuing her boyfriend from the long arm of the law seems like such a good idea — until P. J. discovers he’s been cheating on her. Then the judgment part of her brain shuts down‚ and she’s the one who lands in jail. Fortunately‚ P.J.’s best friend Alicia comes to the rescue.

2010. Now it’s payback time‚ and the only thing Alicia wants is for P.J. to play the starring role in a documentary she is filming. When P.J.’s first “client‚” environmentalist Vivian Remington‚ winds up dead of an overdose‚ P.J.’s past comes back to haunt her.

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Title: Death Along the Spirit Road
Author: C. M. Wendelboe
Series Character: Manny Tanno
Format: Trade Paperback

What we know about the character: Former Oglala Sioux tribal cop Manny Tanno is an FBI agent.

His first case: The body of local Native American land developer Jason Red Cloud is found on the site for his new resort on the Pine Ridge Reservation. A war club is lodged in his skull-appearing as if someone may have performed a ritual at the crime scene.

Manny arrives in Pine Ridge to find that not everything has changed since he left. His former rival, now in charge of the Tribal Police, is just as bitter as ever, and has no intention of making Manny's life easy. And the spirit of Red Cloud haunting Manny's dreams is not much help either, leaving him on his own in hunting down a cold-blooded killer — and one misstep could send him down the spirit road as well.

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For a list of more mysteries scheduled for publication during March, please visit our New Mysteries home page. If you're interested in new paperbacks, visit The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a library of new mysteries, also updated with March 2011 releases.

Please also 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.

Harlequin Mira Mystery and Suspense Titles for March 2011

eHarlequin.com has released the list of March 2011 titles in their Mira imprint, the brightest stars in women's fiction. From all titles available, we've only listed those that are mystery, thriller, or suspense on this page.

For more information about the book from eHarlequin.com, click on the title or cover; other purchase options are also provided.

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The Killing Edge by Heather Graham
Non-Series

Chloe Marin was lucky. She was just a teenager when a beachside party mansion turned into a bloodbath. According to authorities, the killers were later found dead in the swamp. Chloe's not so sure.

Ten years later, as a psychologist consulting with the cops, she gets drawn in to the disappearance of a swimsuit model. Everyone assumes the girl ran off for some fun in the sun—everyone but Chloe, who's been visited by the model's ghost.

Someone else is interested in the dead girl: Luke Cane, a P.I. investigating the disappearance for her father. Chloe and Luke barely trust one another, but they agree on the important things—they will bend the law to catch these killers, and there is an undeniable attraction between them.

When another mass murder occurs, Chloe's beginning to think her presence is no longer a coincidence …

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Against the Law by Kat Martin
The Raines of Wind Canyon Trilogy (3rd in series)

At thirty-two Dev is "mostly retired" from Raines Investigations, content to run operations from his sprawling Arizona home. But Dev has never been able to say no to a beautiful woman, so when Lark Delaney comes to him for help, the former U.S. Army Ranger from Wind Canyon gets back in the game.

Lark is sexy, successful and dedicated to tracking down the baby girl her sister gave up for adoption. It should be a straightforward case, but it's not long before Dev uncovers a shady adoption ring and worse—the child's parents have been murdered and the little girl has been taken.

As the case grows dangerous and Lark needs him more than ever, Dev can't ignore his growing attraction for her. He also can't trust his judgment with women or the emotions he's long-since buried. But there's a chance, if he gets this right and saves Lark's niece, that he'll end up saving himself, too.

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So Close the Hand of Death by J. T. Ellison
A Taylor Jackson Mystery (6th in series)

It's a hideous echo of a violent past. Across America, murders are being committed with all the twisted hallmarks of the Boston Strangler, the Zodiac Killer and Son of Sam. The media frenzy explodes and Nashville homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson knows instantly that The Pretender is back…and he's got helpers.

As The Pretender's disciples perpetrate their sick homages—stretching police and the FBI dangerously thin—Taylor tries desperately to prepare for their inevitable showdown. And she must do it alone. To be close to her is to be in mortal danger, and she won't risk losing anyone she loves. But the isolation, the self-doubt and the rising body count are taking their toll—she's beside herself and ready to snap.

The brilliant psychopath who both adores and despises her is drawing close. Close enough to touch …

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