Though it isn't official until tomorrow, NBC has released its Fall 2011 television schedule. Here's a summary of the Prime Time Crime shows to air on the network (all times are ET):
Wednesday: Harry's Law has been renewed for a second season, and airs at 9 PM. Law & Order: SVU (the last of this once powerful franchise to air on NBC) is scheduled for 10 PM.
Thursday: The Prime Suspect remake airs at 10 PM.
Friday: The new series Grimm is set for 9 PM.
An adaptation of John Grisham's The Firm, set 10 years after the events depicted in the book (and film), is being pushed back to mid-season and will air on Sundays at 10 PM (after Sunday Night Football comes to a close).
Not on the schedule, but expected to air at some point: the Inception-inspired drama Awake (formerly REM).
Previously announced as canceled: The Cape, The Event, Chase, and Law & Order: Los Angeles.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Prime Time Crime: NBC Announces Fall 2011 Schedule
Mr. E. Reviews The Tourist
Available on
This film has all the elements of a light, romantic comedy and suspense thriller yet is consistently none of these. Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp never seem committed to their respective roles, and the uninspired direction and an unimaginative screenplay fail to take advantage of their star power.
Read the full text of our review at Mr. E. Reviews The Tourist.
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Mr. E. Reviews is your source for mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime drama reviews of television and film.
Review: Stolen Lives by Jassy Mackenzie
Stolen Lives by Jassy Mackenzie. A Jade de Jong Mystery. Soho Crime Hardcover, April 2011.
This solidly crafted sequel to the fine first book in this series has the Johannesburg PI almost constantly on the move, helping to keep the plot moving briskly forward. The exotic setting serves as a backdrop to Jade's investigation, with several interconnected subplots providing a credible backstory.
Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Stolen Lives by Jassy Mackenzie.
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Saturday, May 14, 2011
Review: Murder Half Baked by Kathleen Delaney
Murder Half Baked by Kathleen Delaney. An Ellen McKenzie Mystery. Camel Press Trade Paperback, May 2011.
At the center of this entertaining mystery, which is a delightful mix of humor (wedding plans going astray) and crime (murder and arson), are Ellen and Dan, two people who seem ideally made for each other, characters who really make this novel so enjoyable.
Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Murder Half Baked by Kathleen Delaney.
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Casting News for Film Adaptation of Agatha Christie's Crooked House
A couple of months ago we wrote that Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) was writing an adaptation of Agatha Christie's Crooked House. Now we're learning that an all-star cast -- including Julie Andrews, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, and Gabriel Byrne -- has been signed to star in the film to be directed by Neil LaBute (Death at a Funeral).
In the book, three generations of Leonides, one big Anglo-Greek family, are living happily in a sprawling, ramshackle mansion. That is until the head of the household, Aristide, is murdered with a fatal barbiturate injection. Suspicion naturally falls on the old man's young widow, fifty years his junior. But the murderer has not reckoned with the tenacity of Charles Hayward, fiancé of Sophia, the late millionaire's granddaughter, who must find the killer before he can marry her.
Production is expected to begin this summer.
(Source: Variety.)
Pre-Order L.A. Noire from Amazon.com and Receive a $15 Promotional Credit
The highly anticipated interactive crime drama L.A. Noire comes out next week, but if you pre-order it from Amazon.com, you can get a $15 promotional credit towards the purchase of items shipped and sold by Amazon.com (though certain exclusions apply, including Kindle books, MP3s, and video rentals and downloads).
L.A. Noire is a gritty, single player detective game set on the infamous streets and in the smoke-filled back rooms of postwar Los Angeles. Designed and developed with a nod to the classic film noire movie genre, L.A. Noire blends crystal clear graphics that bring the iconic look and feel of the era to life, with a combination of innovative technology and unique gameplay that allow you to solve crimes through interrogations and investigation. Additional features include: five LAPD based crime desks to work, the ability to analyze the case as well as suspects for clues, an accurate block-by-block recreation of eight square miles of 1947 Los Angeles, multiple difficulty settings and more.
You play as newly minted detective Cole Phelps, who is thrown headfirst into a city drowning in violence and corruption. Utilizing groundbreaking new technology that captures an actor's facial performance in astonishing detail, L.A. Noire is a violent crime thriller that blends breathtaking action with true detective work to deliver an unprecedented interactive experience. Interrogate witnesses, search for clues and chase down suspects as you struggle to find the truth in a city where everyone has something to hide.
Against an overarching plot of violence and betrayal, L.A. Noire challenges players to solve a series of self-contained cases as they work their way through the ranks of the LAPD. Each case features a distinct storyline with a beginning, middle and end, and each successfully solved case brings new challenges and leads Cole closer to the true story at the dark heart of the Los Angeles criminal underworld.
L.A. Noire is being released exclusively for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. In order to receive your $15 promotional credit, you must purchase the game before its release date, May 17th, 2011.
Watch the television commercial for the game below. More videos can be found on the Rockstar Games website.
Earn a Free Game in May from Big Fish Games!
Big Fish Games is running a special promotion for the month of May!
Buy any two standard edition games or one collector's edition game during May 2011 and receive a coupon good for a free standard edition game in June! No promotion code is needed, and this offer is available to both new and existing customers. Discounted games -- including the Daily Deal, Catch of the Week, and any other game purchased with a coupon code, Game Club credit, or other discount -- qualify as purchases. Limit one free game per customer.
Click on the banner below to visit the site. You can see a list of mystery- and suspense-themed games available from Big Fish Games on our website, Games of Mystery.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Prime Time Crime: CBS Orders Person of Interest
CBS hasn't announced much (yet) in the way of its upfront Fall 2011 television lineup, but we do know that the network has picked up the J. J. Abrams/Jonathan Nolan project Person of Interest, starring Jim Caviezel as a presumed dead ex-CIA agent, who teams up with a reclusive billionaire to fight crime in New York City.
Prime Time Crime: ABC Orders Charlie's Angels, Renews Body of Proof, Cancels Detroit 1-8-7
Here's the latest from ABC regarding their Prime Time Crime upfront announcements for the Fall 2011 television season.
The network has ordered its contemporary (and relocated) update to Charlie's Angels and renewed Body of Proof for a second season.
ABC has canceled Detroit 1-8-7 after its freshman season and passed on the Poe project, a concept we rather liked.
Prime Time Crime: NBC Cancels Law & Order LA and The Event, Passes on 17th Precinct
More upfront news from NBC.
The Event, a series we tried to like but never really clicked with us, has been canceled.
And the network is passing on picking up 17th Precinct, set in the fictional town of Excelsior where magic and supernatural elements rule over science, a premise we found intriguing.
UPDATE: Law & Order: Los Angeles, an extension of the "Law & Order" franchise that never attracted much of an audience, has also been canceled.
Sudden Death by Michael Balkind is Today's Featured Free Kindle Mystery
MystereBooks 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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Sudden Death by Michael Balkind
A Deadly Sports Mystery (1st in series)
Pero Thrillers (Kindle eBook)
Download Link
About Sudden Death (from the publisher): Reid Clark is a pro golfer at the top of the leader board during the PGA tour; he is also a hothead with a reputation for trouble. Reid receives a death threat right before teeing off on the final day of the Master's Tournament, and hires a P.I. to track down the perpetrator. Suspense builds throughout as Reid tries to compete in one of golf s most prestigious contests ... and woo the woman he loves ... while dodging death at every turn.
Review: Rook, Rhyme & Sinker by R. Michael Phillips
Rook, Rhyme & Sinker by R. Michael Phillips. An Ernie Bisquets Mystery. Asylett Press Trade Paperback, January 2011.
The storyline involving the mystery of a carved ivory rook's origin -- and of its owner's death -- is cleverly devised, and uses as its foundation the real Lewis Chessmen. There is also a considerable amount of good humor included. This is a series that definitely deserves a wider audience.
Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Rook, Rhyme & Sinker by R. Michael Phillips.
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The Mystery Bookshelf: The Daughter of Siena by Marina Fiorato
The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a world of mystery and suspense, is pleased to feature a new crime novel we recently received from the publisher.
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The Daughter of Siena by Marina Fiorato
Non-series
St. Martin's Griffin (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: May 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-60958-0
About The Daughter of Siena (from the publisher): Amid the intrigue and danger of 18th-century Italy, a young woman becomes embroiled in romance and treachery with a rider in the Palio, the breathtaking horse race set in Siena ...
It’s 1729, and the Palio, a white-knuckle horse race, is soon to be held in the heart of the peerless Tuscan city of Siena. But the beauty and pageantry masks the deadly rivalry that exists among the city’s districts. Each ward, represented by an animal symbol, puts forth a rider to claim the winner’s banner, but the contest turns citizens into tribes and men into beasts—and beautiful, headstrong, young Pia Tolomei is in love with a rider of an opposing ward, an outsider who threatens the shaky balance of intrigue and influence that rules the land.
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About Marina Fiorato: A history graduate of Oxford University and the University of Venice, she specialized in the study of Shakespeare’s plays as an historical source. After University she studied art and has since worked as an illustrator, actress, and film reviewer. She was married on the Grand Canal in Venice and lives in London with her husband, son, and daughter. Visit her website at MarinaFiorato.com.
Read the first chapter(s) of The Daughter of Siena below. Use the Aa settings button to adjust text size, line spacing, and word density.
Jonathan Levine to Direct Film Adaptation of YA Thriller Legend
This past February we posted that CBS Films had acquired the rights to the futuristic young adult thriller Legend by Marie Lu. Now we're learning that Jonathan Levine will direct the film adaptation.
Set in 2130, in what was once the western United States, the Republic is a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths -- until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.
Legend is scheduled to be published by Putnam in November, 2011.
(Source: The Hollywood Reporter.)
Prime Time Crime: More New Series for NBC
NBC continues to pre-announce their upfront Fall 2011 schedule with more series pick-ups.
On the Prime Time Crime front, the network is adding Awake, an Inception-styled thriller that follows the parallel lives of a detective after he awakens from an automobile accident. (The series was previously known as REM when we first posted about it in February.)
NBC is also moving forward with Grimm, a fantasy crime drama in which the characters are all inspired from those that appear in Grimm's Fairy Tales.
