Stephen King Announces The Wind Through the Keyhole, a New Book in The Dark Tower Series

With the "The Dark Tower" series of fantasy thrillers in the news -- Ron Howard and company are planning a multi-platform adaptation of the novels -- it is worth noting that author Stephen King announced today a new entry in the series, The Wind Through the Keyhole, chronologically set between the fourth and fifth books.

"It won’t tell you much that’s new about Roland and his friends," says King, "but there’s a lot none of us knew about Mid-World, both past and present."

The first book in the series, The Gunslinger, was published in 1982 with the series concluding (or so everyone thought) in 2004 with the seventh, The Dark Tower.

The Wind Through the Keyhole is expected to be published in 2012.

Chelsea Cain's Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell Thrillers Optioned

This is actually fairly old news from several weeks ago (but we're just learning of it today). January Jones (Mad Men) has optioned the first three books in the Archie Sheriden series of thrillers by Chelsea Cain, with the expectation of playing serial killer Gretchen Lowell.

The characters were introduced in Heartsick, originally published in 2007. The fourth book in the series, The Night Season, was published earlier this month.

In the series debut, Portland detective Archie Sheridan has spent years tracking Gretchen Lowell, a beautiful serial killer. In the end she was the one who caught him, but after torturing him for days she mysteriously let him go and turned herself in. Since then the she has been locked up, leaving Archie damaged but alive in a prison of another kind—addicted to pain pills, unable to return to his old life, powerless to get those ten horrific days or Gretchen off his mind.

When another killer begins snatching teenage girls off the streets, Archie has to pull himself together to head up a new task force, but even then he can’t stop him without getting information from Gretchen—an encounter that may destroy him.

With Susan Ward, a hungry young newspaper reporter, profiling Archie and his team, Archie, the killer, and Gretchen enter into a dark and deadly game.

You can read the first chapter(s) of Heartsick below. Use the Aa settings button to adjust text size, line spacing, and word density.

TNT Announces Summer 2011 Series Schedule

TNT announced this morning its Summer 2011 schedule of series, which includes several returning crime dramas.

Memphis Beat, with Jason Lee as a Memphis police detective with an intimate connection to the city, a passion for its music and a very demanding boss, returns for its second season on June 14th at 9 PM (ET/PT). (10 episodes)

The fourth season of Leverage, with Timothy Hutton heading a gang of thieves, grifters, and con artists out to help everyday people get even against the big shots who have destroyed their lives, premieres on June 26th at 9 PM (ET/PT). (10 episodes)

The Closer, with Kyra Sedgwick as LA Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, opens its 7th season on July 11th at 9 PM (ET/PT). This will be the last season of the series, but as we reported earlier, it will be extended to introduce new characters for a spin-off. (10 episodes)

Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander star as Rizzoli & Isles, a series based on characters created by crime novelist Tess Gerritsen. The second season for Boston detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles premieres on July 11th at 10 PM (ET/PT). (10 episodes)

Two new series will also debut, including Falling Skies, starring Noah Wyle, a sci-fi suspense drama about the aftermath of an alien invasion and the resistance movement formed by the survivors.

The Cowboy and the Vampire by Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall (Mystery Book Review)

The Cowboy and the Vampire by Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall. Non-series. Midnight Ink Trade Paperback, October 2010.

The authors make the most of the contrasts introduced in this "darkly romantic" mystery, adding interest to the overall storyline. The narrative itself proceeds at a brisk pace, helped along by moving the action to multiple venues. A well thought out backstory provides the foundation for the conflict between human and vampire, though the resolution (given the book's title and premise) is never in doubt.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: The Cowboy and the Vampire by Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall.

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Jane Eyre Opens in Theaters Friday, March 11th

An adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's classic novel of romantic suspense, Jane Eyre opens in limited release in theaters tomorrow, Friday March 12th.

The film stars Mia Wasikowska as the titular character, who works as a governess for the wealthy Edward Rochester (Michael Fassbender). As she reflects upon the people and emotions that have defined her, it is clear that the isolated and imposing residence — and Mr. Rochester's coldness — have sorely tested the young woman's resilience, forged years earlier when she was orphaned. She must now act decisively to secure her own future and come to terms with the past that haunts her — and the terrible secret that Mr. Rochester is hiding and that she has uncovered.

Watch a behind-the-scenes featurette about the film below.

New Gameplay Video for Interactive Crime Thriller L.A. Noire

Rockstar Games has released a new video for its upcoming murder mystery game L.A. Noire that shows more of the investigation and interrogation techniques integrated into the gameplay.

Set amid the violence and corruption of post-war Los Angeles, L.A. Noire seamlessly blends crime-solving, clue-finding, car chases and shoot-outs with revolutionary new interrogation-based gameplay that will allow players to read characters' emotions in order to reveal the truth. Players will take on the role of Cole Phelps, a decorated World War II veteran who rises through the ranks of the LAPD, solving a series of gruesome murders and other crimes that bring him face to face with the dark heart of Los Angeles during Hollywood’s Golden Age.

L.A. Noire will be released on May 17th for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 gaming platforms. Two videos are embedded below; first, a trailer for the interactive crime thriller, and second, the new gameplay video.

Desert Lost by Betty Webb is eHarlequin's Friday Freebie

We're always happy to see a mystery or suspense novel featured on Freebie Fridays at eHarlequin. For those of you unfamiliar with it, if you purchase any two books on Fridays at eHarlequin.com, you receive the featured title free! (eBooks are excluded from this promotion.)

The sixth mystery in the Lena Jones series by Betty Webb, Desert Lost, is free with the purchase of any two or more other books tomorrow, Friday March 11th. It will automatically be added to your shopping cart. In our review of Desert Lost, we called the book "tragic and touching", adding that "fans of the series will likely count this entry as one of the author's best."

Click on the banner above to start shopping!

About Desert Lost (from the publisher): While on stakeout, Scottsdale private investigator Lena Jones finds the body of a woman whose clothing and hairstyle indicate she's from the polygamist cult Second Zion. Lena has witnessed the sordid and abusive world of polygamists while working undercover, and she's worried this fundamentalist sect, rife with multiple wives, welfare fraud and child abuse, is reaching into Scottsdale.

With the help of a friend, an escaped "sister-wife" who recognizes the victim, Lena tries to help the dead woman's son. Jonah is one of the "lost boys" thrown away by the cult so other men can have multiple wives. He's living on the streets, addicted, turning tricks, and now he's been arrested for his mother's murder. Lena believes Jonah is innocent. To prove it, she follows the trail to the truth about who killed Celeste King and why—and in the process, discovers secrets both tragic and disturbing.

Overturn, an Episodic Suspense Web Series

We received an e-mail yesterday alerting us to an episodic suspense web series called Overturn. Influenced by some recent films and television shows, and a creative blend of several genres, the storyline follows Christopher Gabriel, tormented since childhood by nightmares, who is kidnapped and subjected to a series of cruel experiments. But are his captors trying to help him ... or do they know something that makes him important to them for another reason?

Four episodes have been released so far, each running 3-5 minutes in length. Particularly noteworthy is the performance by Ivan Doan, who plays Christopher as a young man determined to learn what's happening to and around him but fearful all the same. Doan also developed the concept for the mystery series and directs each episode.

It's not clear how many episodes there will be. A news item suggests there are only five, with the fifth scheduled to air next week on March 16th. We've watched the first four episodes, and if there's only one to go, there seems to be several plot threads to quickly tie up!

You can see all the episodes on the series website, Overturn Series. Watch a teaser trailer below.

Aimée Leduc's Paris: A Companion to Cara Black's Mystery Series

Soho Press has published a very entertaining and informative companion to Cara Black's Aimée Leduc mysteries.

Titled Aimée Leduc's Paris, it is currently available as a free download in a Kindle edition and as a NookBook. You can also get a free PDF version from the publisher's website.

So get ready to follow Aimée through the darker side of the City of Lights in a brand new way with this guide to the series from its characters to its street corners. This companion can be used as a story refresher for books you haven’t read in a decade, as a cheat sheet to keep track of who’s who, or to map out events, locations and murders as you read about them. And if you’re planning a trip to Paris, check out Cara’s recommendations for everything from which thrift stores carry the best Vintage Chanel to where to grab the perfect cappuccino.

OMN Welcomes Mary Cunningham, Author of the Cynthia's Attic Series of Mysteries for 'Tweens

Omnimystery News is pleased to welcome Mary Cunningham, author of the Cynthia's Attic series of mysteries for 'tweens.

The third book in her series (and the subject of today's post "History Meets Mystery") is Curse of the Bayou (Echelon Press, December 2007 Trade Paperback, 978-1-59080-575-6). The Magician's Castle (Echelon Press, March 2011 Trade Paperback, 978-1-59080-656-2), the fourth book, is published this month.

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From the moment I heard the story, I longed for the ability to travel back in time and solve the mysterious disappearance of my great-great-grandfather, Augustus Bulleit (Boilliat). The most intriguing adventure from my ‘Tween book series evolved from his ill-fated trip down the Mississippi River in 1860.

Cynthia's Attic Book Three: Curse of the Bayou is loosely based on the disappearance of Augustus during a flatboat trip down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans. It's widely believed he was murdered for the contents he carried and his boat. Being the first in his family to come to America (around 1826), his death is particularly distressing because information about his French roots all but died with him.

According to his youngest granddaughter (my Great-Aunt Blanche), in the fall of 1859, Augustus built a large boat ninety feet in length with the halves of two immense poplar logs. It was his custom to purchase produce and other crops and re-sell them at points in the south, and to also take the merchandise of neighbors down the river to sell on commission. On this trip, he docked safely at Memphis and disposed of his cargo for a good profit. He wrote in a letter home that he also purchased land in Metropolis, Illinois, but that was the last communication from him. It's assumed he was murdered and robbed for the money and the land mentioned in his letter. This is based on the fact that one of the men he employed to make the trip with him, made claim to the land shortly after Augustus disappeared.

The only additional information ever received was that the merchandise he purchased to take home arrived at the Metropolis, Illinois wharf and was claimed by another person. No title to the land was ever found. You can imagine why this mystery fascinated me over the years and still does. What happened to Augustus? How did he meet his demise?

Who better to solve this real life family mystery than Cynthia's Attic time-traveling duo, Cynthia and Gus? Curse of the Bayou takes them deep in the Louisiana bayou where they meet an old Cajun guide named Mudbug, and encounter a nasty pirate with a strange connection to the disappearance. Do they solve the mystery? Guess you'll have to read the book.

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Mary Cunningham is the author of the 4-book, award-winning 'tween fantasy/mystery series, Cynthia's Attic. Her children's mystery series was inspired by a recurring dream about a mysterious attic. After realizing that the dream took place in the home of her childhood friend, Cynthia, the dreams stopped and the writing began.

She is also co-writer of the humor-filled lifestyle book titled, WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty, Christmas With Daisy, and "Ghost Light", a short story inspired by her Indiana basketball roots.

She is a member of The Georgia Reading Association, the Carrollton Creative Writers Club, and the Pulpwood Queens Book Club. When she gives her fingers a day away from the keyboard, she enjoys golf, swimming and exploring the mountains of West Georgia where she makes her home with her husband. Together they've raised three creative children.

For more information about Mary and her book, visit her website at MaryCunninghamBooks.com.

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About Curse of the Bayou: Colorful pirates, SuRana -- a shape-shifting puma, and an old Cajun guide named Mud Bug join Cynthia and Gus as they explore the Curse of the Bayou.

The third quest for the adventurous, twelve-year-old best friends finds them in a Louisiana bayou. There, they search for answers in the disappearance of Cynthia's great-grandfather, Beau Connor, who was on his way down the Mississippi River to sell a flatboat full of produce.

With the help of a magic trunk in Cynthia's attic, this time-traveling duo venture back to 1914 New Orleans. The warm welcome and advice from old friend, Gabriella, is small comfort when Mud Bug warns them to stay away from Buzzard Jack LaBuse, the meanest, orneriest pirate this side of the Mississippi, his gang of misfits, Snags, Darby, and Salty Sam, their thieving parrot mascot.

A trip to the Connor's Southern Indiana farm reveals a strange connection between Beau and Buzzard Jack, and a family curse that might be responsible for Cynthia's great-grandfather's disappearance. Returning to New Orleans, a harrowing ride on a roller coaster sends them farther back in time to 1844, straight into the clutches of the evil pirate, fighting for their lives. A mysterious treasure and heart-stopping adventure lead to a final confrontation in the girls' mission to save Great Granddaddy Beau.

About The Magician's Castle: Magical costumes, disappearing stairs, and a spooky attic filled with dusty antiques — what more could two, adventurous, young girls ask for?

Sebastien the Great, a magician whose fiancée, Kathryn, has disappeared through the magic trunk vows revenge. If Cynthia and Gus don't find a missing page from the “Book of Spells,” Cynthia's family will face financial and personal ruin.

Follow this time-traveling duo as they journey back to a 1914 Swiss castle where Eva, Sebastien's grandmother, gives them clues on where to begin their search. Their journey takes them through miles of tree tunnels, an enchanted garden ruled by a cranky rock monster, and high into the majestic Alps.

But the adventure doesn't really start until they get the surprise of their lives and are sent fifty years into the future, have a shocking encounter with another set of best friends, and receive a fresh set of clues that could lead to Kathryn's return. But at what price?

Watch a video trailer for the Cynthia's Attic mysteries below.

Heaven is High by Kate Wilhelm (Mystery Book Review)

Heaven is High by Kate Wilhelm. A Barbara Holloway Mystery. Minotaur Books Hardcover, February 2011.

Though the plot may seem a little far-fetched, especially when pirates and drug lords and such are brought into the mix, a couple of factors work strongly in the book's favor: setting the action during the pre-Internet 1980s, and in Belize, a little known (at the time) country in Central America.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Heaven is High by Kate Wilhelm.

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Read the first chapter(s) of Heaven is High below. Use the Aa settings button to adjust text size, line spacing, and word density.

Lisa Gardner's Love You More eBook Includes Sneak Peek of AMC's The Killing Pilot Script

Yesterday we posted an extended inside look at The Killing, AMC's upcoming murder mystery drama. Now we've learned that the network and Random House are teaming up to offer buyers of Lisa Gardner's third mystery featuring Boston police detective D. D. Warren, Love You More, an opportunity to get a sneak peek at the series' pilot script by simply purchasing an ebook version of the title (Kindle, NookBook, Kobo, etc.). (This offer is apparently good with selected other Gardner titles, but we're not sure which ones are included.)

Both the book and the series feature dynamic, determined female detectives. They're also both full of secrets and written by women who know how to build suspense.

You can read the first chapter(s) of Love You More below. Use the Aa settings button to adjust text size, line spacing, and word density.

OMN Welcomes Alison Naomi Holt, Author of the Suspense Novel The Door at the Top of the Stairs

Omnimystery News is pleased to welcome Alison Naomi Holt, author of the suspense novel The Door at the Top of the Stairs (Booklocker.com, July 2010 Trade Paperback, 978-1-60910-271-5) and more recently of Credo's Hope (Booklocker.com, December 2010 eBook), a mystery introducing Detective Alexandra Wolfe.

Today Alison asks (and answers!) the question, "Is that how a cop would really act in that situation?" And she's also providing our readers with an opportunity to win a copy of her book. Visit Mystery Book Contests, click on the "Alison Naomi Holt: The Door at the Top of the Stairs" contest link, enter your name, e-mail address, and this code (4859) for a chance to win! (One entry per person; contest ends 03/23/2011.)

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Photo provided courtesy of Alison Naomi Holt

How often have you read a crime thriller and wondered, "Is that how a cop would really act in that situation?" Plenty, I'm sure, and as a retired police lieutenant and an author, I can tell you that the thought process is magnified a thousand times over for police officers. Most officers I know, and I know quite a few, don't even watch police shows because of the persistent eye fatigue they get from rolling their eyes so often. They're even more particular about which authors’ works they'll read. Over the years I've had a wonderful time collecting Police Pet Peeves from cops who aren't shy about telling me exactly what drives them crazy about fictional police officers in murder mysteries and suspense novels.

I thought today would be a perfect opportunity to share some of those irritating peccadilloes with my fellow murder mystery aficionados. For example, one police sergeant, whose hair pretty much turned a dashing shade of grey during my rookie year, can't stand it “when the idiot officer, empty handed, approaches the suspect and talks him out of the gun he's been pointing at the officer's head." Whoa, big no no. Rule number one, never go to a gunfight empty handed. Rule number two, bad guy points gun at cop, bad guy dies. The moral of the story is if you want your protagonist to look brave by walking up empty handed to a loaded gun pointing at his or her chest, realize that, in this case, brave equals stupid.

Our second scenario comes to us courtesy of a woman who worked as a patrol officer for her entire twenty-two year career. Her biggest complaint is that most detectives in murder mysteries lead the way on a high-risk building entry. Although it does make it more exciting for your main character to lead the way by kicking in the door and rushing into a hail of bullets, the truth of the matter is quite different: one, it's darn hard to kick in a door, and two, if they work for a large enough department, SWAT will usually make the high-risk entries. If time is of the essence or if the entry is in the jurisdiction of a small town cop, then patrol officers will make the entry. Sure, sometimes, if the detective gets to the scene in time, and if he can find a vest, and if he can locate his gun in the trunk, he might be able to sneak onto the entry team. (Just kidding guys. I used to be a detective, and I love to jerk their chains.)

Finally, equipment issues. To any cops reading this, need I say more? For you authors, in your novel, does your main police character ever experience dangerous and often embarrassing moments in the patrol car? These examples came from a friend of mine with somewhere around thirty years of police work under his belt. "Ever had a cop in a murder mystery where either the radio just wouldn’t work or there was an oversaturation of airtime and he can't get on the air? I was in a chase once and couldn’t tell anyone. One time I was going Code 3 (lights and siren) while leaning out the window and banging on the light bar to keep it working. Another time a cab driver stopped traffic so I could get out of the 4th Avenue tunnel on a Code 3 run when all my equipment quit. Another time I was about to stop a drug car for MANTIS (Metropolitan Area Narcotics Trafficking Interdiction Squad) and my car died every time I hit the lights." If you want realism, write the most ridiculous equipment failure you can think of. I guarantee that some cop somewhere will read it and say, "Hey! That happened to me!"

Thanks for letting me bend your ear. Oh, and by the way, yes, the cops in some of my books often act "uncoplike" simply because it's more fun to write them that way. I would have loved to be able to act like my main character in Credo's Hope, Book One of my "Alex Wolfe Mysteries", but the reality is I would have lasted all of about one month before I was hauled up in front of a board of inquiry and fired. In other books I've written, such as The Door at the Top of the Stairs, my characters are spot on in their reactions and personalities. The difference is essential because one of the books is a lighthearted, humorous look at police work while the other is deadly serious. With the one, feel free to take liberties with your character, with the other, you'd better know exactly how real officers will react in certain situations. Hopefully, this little blurb will help you on your road to writing your next great detective novel.

If you'd like to read more Police Pet Peeves, or if you'd like to peruse one of my books, you can find them at AlisonHoltBooks.com.

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About The Door at the Top of the Stairs: Undercover narcotics officer Jesse Shaunessy is kidnapped and tortured, then thrown away by her department as damaged goods. The mind is a powerful ally, and 26-year-old Jesse has no memory of the abduction or the subsequent torture. Inevitably, as Jesse drifts from one itinerant job to another, the protective walls carefully constructed by her subconscious are beginning to crumble.

Fate lands her on a farm owned by Dr. Ryland Caldwell, a retired psychologist and her partner, Morgan Davis, the master of the Myrena Fox Hunt club. Ryland suspects there is more to Jesse’s foul temper than meets the eye. When Morgan and Ryland accidentally discover vicious scars on Jesse’s back, Ryland knows that without their help, Jesse’s descent into insanity will rapidly overwhelm them all.

The Door at the Top of the Stairs is available in Trade Paperback and popular eBook formats (see icons below book cover above).

For a chance to win a copy of The Door at the Top of the Stairs, courtesy of the author, visit Mystery Book Contests, click on the "Alison Naomi Holt: The Door at the Top of the Stairs" contest link, enter your name, e-mail address, and this code (4859) for a chance to win! (One entry per person; contest ends 03/23/2011.)

Read the first chapter of The Door at the Top of the Stairs below; use the Aa settings button to adjust font size, line spacing, and word density.

More Casting News for ABC's Poe

Last week we reported on the casting of Chris Egan as Edgar Allan Poe in ABC's re-imagining of the author as sleuth.

Now we're learning (via Inside TV) that Natalie Dormer (The Tudors) has been cast as the young owner of the newspaper for which Poe writes, which she inherits from her father after his suspicious death. She'll be Poe's partner in crime(-solving), as it were.

Poe (the series title) is expected to be on the network's Fall 2011 schedule.

An Inside Look at The Killing, Coming in April to AMC

AMC has released a lengthy, 4½ minute, preview to The Killing, its murder mystery drama set to premiere on April 3rd with a two-hour episode.

Based on the Danish television crime series Forbrydelsen, The Killing weaves together three distinct stories around a single murder in Seattle, including the detectives assigned to the case and their suspects, the victim’s grieving family, and the local politicians connected to the case.

Take an inside look with the cast and crew of the series below.