Prime Time Crime: CBS Announces Fall 2011 Schedule

With more Prime Time Crime series than any other network, CBS announced its Fall 2011 schedule this morning. (All times below are ET.)

Monday: Hawaii Five-0 is renewed for a second season, and airs in its current timeslot at 10 PM.

Tuesday: Both NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles are coming back, in a two-hour time block starting at 8 PM. It is followed at 10 PM with the new series Unforgettable, about a female detective with perfect memory.

Wednesday: Criminal Minds is renewed for a 7th season, and airs at 9 PM. CSI (the original) moves from Thursdays to Wednesdays and airs at 10 PM.

Thursday: The new Person of Interest, featuring an ex-CIA agent who teams with a billionaire to solve crimes, airs at 9 PM. It is followed by the fourth season of The Mentalist at 10 PM.

Friday: CSI: NY is renewed for an 8th season at 9 PM, with the second season of Blue Bloods airing at 10 PM.

Sunday: CSI: Miami comes back for a 10th season at 10 PM.

Previously announced as canceled: CHAOS, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior and The Defenders.

May be announced as a mid-season replacement: The 2-2 (formerly known as Rookies).

Not ordered from pilot to series: Hail Mary.

Review: And Every Man Has To Die by Frank Zafiro

And Every Man Has To Die by Frank Zafiro. A River City Crime Novel. Gray Dog Press Trade Paperback, May 2011.

This police procedural set in a fictional city in eastern Washington State sets up a conflict between the police department and the increasing power of a small criminal element within the growing Russian community. There may be battles to be won -- on both sides -- but at the end of this book, the war is not over by any means.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: And Every Man Has To Die by Frank Zafiro.

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Prime Time Crime: CBS Renews CSI: NY, Cancels Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior and The Defenders

Although the official CBS upfront presentation for Fall 2011 isn't until tomorrow, there are a couple of things we do know tonight regarding the network's Prime Time Crime line-up.

After just one very high-profile, very highly publicized half-season, the network is canceling Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior. It joins the previously announced cancelation of freshman drama The Defenders.

But CBS has renewed CSI:NY, which appeared doubtful just a week or so ago.

We'll have more about CBS's fall season plans tomorrow.

Prime Time Crime: Watch a Preview for Charlie's Angels, New on ABC This Fall

ABC has released a preview for its remake (update? reimagining?) of Charlie's Angels, which we've embedded below.

Everyone deserves a second chance -- even a thief, a street racer and a cop who got in a little too deep. After all, the three women who solve cases for their elusive boss, Charlie Townsend, are no saints. They're angels ... Charlie's Angels.

Set in Miami, this fun, glamorous, action-packed take on the 1970s series introduces three new angels, all fearless detectives, head-turning beauties and close friends. There's Abby (Rachael Taylor), a Park Avenue princess who became a world-class thief. Then there's Kate (Annie Ilonzeh), a Miami cop who fell from grace, losing both her career and her fiancé. Finally there's Gloria, a disgraced army lieutenant who has a way with explosives. When one of the angels' missions ends in Gloria's tragic death, Charlie persuades them to partner with Gloria's childhood friend, Eve (Minka Kelly), a street racer with a mysterious past. They may not know each other yet, but one thing's for sure -- Abby, Kate and Eve will always have each others' backs.

Charlie's Angels is scheduled to air Thursdays at 8 PM.

Prime Time Crime: ABC Announces Fall 2011 Schedule

ABC has announced its Fall 2011 television schedule, including several new and returning Prime Time Crime series. (All times below are ET.)

Monday: Castle is renewed for a 4th season, and airs in its usual timeslot at 10 PM.

Tuesday: Body of Proof, which premiered just a few weeks ago, returns for a second season at 10 PM.

Wednesday: We haven't read much about Revenge, a contemporary reimagining of the classic novel The Count of Monte Cristo, so we're unsure if this qualifies to be included on this list or not. Even so, it will air at 10 PM.

Thursday: The Charlie's Angels reboot, now set in Miami, opens the night at 8 PM.

Sunday: Desperate Housewives -- we go back and forth on whether this series qualifies as a crime drama -- returns for its 8th season at 9 PM.

Possible mid-season replacements: Missing and The River.

Previously announced as canceled: Detroit 1-8-7.

Not ordered: Poe, featuring Edgar Allan Poe as amateur sleuth. Two other series that we were following, which we believe made it to the pilot stage but were not picked up as series, are Partners and One Police Plaza.

Graphic Novel Featuring Richard Castle's Derrick Storm to be Published

If you watched Castle last night, you heard Richard Castle mention, and briefly show the cover art for, a new graphic novel, Deadly Storm.

The book, written by Brian Bendis and Kelly Sue DeConnick, and illustrated by Lan Medina, is scheduled to be published by Marvel on September 28th.

Though no details of the plot have been released, the graphic novel is subtitled "A Derrick Storm Mystery" and features the lead character from Castle's series of bestselling novels. Castle supposedly killed off Storm in 2009's Stormfall, so the events in this new graphic novel must take place earlier in his career.

Castle is also the author of the Nikki Heat mysteries, featuring a NYPD cop inspired by the "real" homicide detective Kate Beckett. In contrast to the Derrick Storm mysteries (that exist only in the minds of the series' writers), the Nikki Heat novels -- Heat Wave and Naked Heat -- have been published.

Prime Time Crime: Watch a Preview for Alcatraz, New on Fox This Winter

Another new series that Fox is planning for its 2011/2012 mid-season is the suspense thriller Alcatraz, centered on America's most infamous prison and one-time home to the nation's most notorious murderers, rapists, kidnappers, thieves and arsonists.

When San Francisco Police Department Detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) is assigned to a grisly homicide case, a fingerprint leads her to a shocking suspect: Jack Sylvane, a former Alcatraz inmate who died decades ago. Given her family history — both her grandfather and surrogate uncle, Ray Archer (Robert Forster), were guards at the prison — Madsen's interest is immediately piqued, and once the enigmatic, knows-everything-but-tells-nothing government agent Emerson Hauser (Sam Neill) tries to impede her investigation, she's doggedly committed.

Madsen turns to Alcatraz expert and comic book enthusiast, Dr. Diego "Doc" Soto (Jorge Garcia), to piece together the inexplicable sequence of events. The twosome discovers that Sylvane is not only alive, but he's loose on the streets of San Francisco, leaving bodies in his wake. And strangely, he hasn't aged a day since he was in Alcatraz, when the prison was ruled by the iron-fisted Warden Edwin James (Jonny Coyne) and the merciless Associate Warden E. B. Tiller (Jason Butler Harner). Madsen and Soto reluctantly team with Agent Hauser and his technician, Lucy Banerjee (Parminder Nagra), to stop Sylvane's vengeful killing spree.

By delving into Alcatraz history, government cover-ups and Rebecca's own heritage, the team will ultimately discover that Sylvane is only a small part of a much larger, more sinister present-day threat. For while he may be the first, it quickly becomes clear that Sylvane won't be the last prisoner to reappear from Alcatraz. Through the course of the investigation, Madsen and Soto will learn that Agent Hauser has known about the prison's secret history and has been awaiting the prisoners' return. Soto will witness his life's work — the history of Alcatraz — come alive. Madsen will be forced to keep her supportive San Francisco cop fiancé, Jimmy Dickens (Santiago Cabrera), at arm's length from the highly classified assignment as she sees everything she thought she knew about her family's past shattered, all while fighting to keep the country safe from history's most dangerous criminals.

Alcatraz is scheduled to air as a mid-season replacement on Mondays at 9 PM (ET/PT). Watch a preview for the series below. More previews of Fox series can be found on its YouTube site.

Prime Time Crime: Watch a Preview for The Finder, New on Fox This Winter

Fox has uploaded a number of videos to its YouTube site, featuring previews of new shows scheduled for the Fall 2011 season (or in this case, the 2011/2012 mid-season).

Included among these is the Bones spin-off, The Finder.

Iraq war veteran Walter Sherman (Geoff Stults) gained a reputation while serving in the Army Military Police as someone who was very good at tracking down insurgents, deserters and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Unfortunately, Walter found one IED just moments before it found him. Two months later, when Walter woke from his coma, he earned an honorable discharge and returned home. His resulting brain damage from the explosion transformed him from someone skilled at recovering people and things into something much more extraordinary: a Finder.

His first post-military assignment was to find the CIA head honcho’s missing daughter and bring her home. Walter did both, and since then has never been without an assignment. After settling in Key West, Walter met the beautiful and worldly Ike Latulippe (Saffron Burrows), a woman with a mysterious past and many hidden skills. She tends bar at The Ends of the Earth, which also serves as a makeshift office and home base for Walter. Walter helped Ike escape a dangerous life, and for that, she is eternally grateful.

Another island denizen dedicated to Walter is Leo Knox (Michael Clarke Duncan), once an obese lawyer who, after the deaths of his wife and children, completely reinvented himself into a gentle giant, philosopher and Walter’s legal advisor. Because of his skills, Walter is often asked to find a person or a thing that law enforcement either will not or cannot find. With the help of Ike and Leo, as well as a patchwork of indebted connections, he and his team ultimately find meaning in their own lives by finding something or someone other people have lost.

The Finder is scheduled to air as a mid-season replacement for Bones on Thursdays at 9 PM (ET/PT). Watch a preview for the series below.

Prime Time Crime: Watch a Preview for Prime Suspect, New on NBC This Fall

Another new show ordered by NBC for its Fall 2011 television season is Prime Suspect, a remake of the British series of the same title created by crime novelist Lynda La Plante.

If being a homicide detective in New York isn't tough enough, having to contend with a male-dominated police department to get respect makes it that much tougher. And that's exactly what Jane Timoney (Maria Bello) has to do. She's an outsider who was just transferred to a new precinct where a fraternity of cops isn't willing to give her the benefit of the doubt -- especially given the way they think she got the job after an illicit affair with her boss.

Jane is by no means perfect, and with her own vices and questionable past she can be forceful, willful, rude, and downright reckless. She's also a brilliant cop with an uncanny ability to see what others miss, and get inside a criminal's head like no one else. While she wouldn't admit it, she wants the respect of the men in her life -- including her commanding officer, her fellow detectives, and her complicated boyfriend and his young son -- but above all, she keeps her eye on one thing: the prime suspect.

Prime Suspect is scheduled to air on Thursdays at 10 PM (ET/PT). Watch a preview for the series below. You can find previews of all of NBC's series on its website.

Prime Time Crime: Watch a Preview for Grimm, New on NBC This Fall

One of the new shows NBC has announced for its Fall 2011 television season is Grimm, a crime drama in which the characters are based on, or adapted from, those in the Grimm Fairy Tales.

Remember the fairy tales your parents used to tell you before bedtime? Well, those weren't stories, they were warnings.

Detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) thought he was ready for the grim reality of working homicide in Portland, Oregon. That is, until he started to see things ... things he couldn't quite explain. Like a gorgeous woman suddenly transforming into a hideous hag, or an average Joe turning into a vicious troll. Then, after a panicked visit from his only living relative, Nick discovers the truth about his visions: he's not like everyone else, he's a descendant of an elite group of hunters known as "Grimms" who are charged with stopping the proliferation of supernatural creatures in the world. And so begins his new life journey -- albeit a reluctant one at first -- as he solves crimes with his partner who knows something about Nick has radically changed but can't quite put his finger on it. Along the way, Nick finds himself unexpectedly getting help on some of the more difficult cases from Monroe, a guy who seems normal at first but is soon revealed to be what you might call a "big bad wolf." Literally!

While the Brothers Grimm wrote fairy tales that children have adored for generations, imagine if the villains were real, and Nick was the only one who could stop them.

Grimm is scheduled to air on Fridays at 9 PM (ET/PT). Watch a preview for the series below. You can find previews of all of NBC's series on its website.

Mystery and Suspense Films, New This Week on DVD (110517)

Checking through our list of films currently scheduled for release this week on DVD and/or Blu-ray disc, shown below are those that fall into the mystery, suspense, thriller and adventure categories.

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Purchase/Rental Options

The Mechanic (2011)

When his mentor is murdered, lone hit man Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) trains the man's son, Steve McKenna (Ben Foster), in the ways of the professional kill. Together Arthur and his eager apprentice hunt down those responsible for executing Steve's father. But the partnership gives rise to new dangers and deceptions. A remake of the 1972 film The Mechanic, with Charles Bronson in the title role. (R; 93 minutes)

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Purchase/Rental Options

The Rite (2011)

Despite his conviction that demonic possession is just so much supersitious mumbo jumbo, Catholic priest-in-training Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) journeys to Rome to attend a special exorcism school being taught at the Vatican. Before long, true-believer Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins) introduces the young cleric to the devil's power firsthand. (PG-13; 114 minutes)

Telemystery: Covert Affairs and Flashpoint, New This Week on DVD

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 on or coming soon to DVD or Blu-ray disc, is profiling two series being released this week.

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Piper Perabo stars as Annie Walker, fluent in six languages and a world-traveler, and a new field operative for the CIA in Covert Affairs.

In a shadowy world full of cons, killers, and international crime rings, what she doesn’t know is there's something—or someone—from her past that her bosses want badly enough to put her in harm's way. She just has to survive long enough to find out why.

The Covert Affairs: Season One DVD set of 3 discs contain the 11 episodes that aired on USA Network from July through September, 2010. Covert Affairs as been renewed for a second season, which begins June 7th, 2011.

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The tough, risk-filled lives of a group of cops in the Strategic Response Unit (SRU, inspired by Toronto's Emergency Task Force), is the subject ofFlashpoint.

It's a unique unit that rescues hostages, busts gangs, defuses bombs, climbs the sides of buildings and talks down suicidal teens. Members of a highly-skilled tactical team, they're also trained in negotiating, profiling and getting inside the suspect's head to diffuse the situation to try and save lives

The Flashpoint: Season Three DVD set of 4 discs contain 16 episodes, the first 7 of which aired from July through September 2010 on CBS (though we're not exactly sure when the remaining episodes aired). The fourth season of Flashpoint began airing a couple of weeks ago.

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

Prime Time Crime: Fox Announces Fall 2011 Schedule

Fox is out with its Fall 2011 television schedule. There are no new Prime Time Crime shows premiering on the network -- well, maybe one -- though a couple are expected to be scheduled as mid-season replacements. (All times below are ET.)

Monday: We're unsure if Terra Nova qualifies as a mystery/suspense/thriller drama. The network calls it an "epic family adventure". It will air at 8 PM.

Thursday: Bones has been renewed for a 7th season and airs at 9 PM.

Friday: Fringe comes back for a 4th season, and airs at 9 PM.

Midseason replacements: Alcatraz and the Bones spin-off Finder.

Previously announced as canceled: The Chicago Code, Human Target, and Lie To Me.

Not ordered: Locke & Key, adapted from the Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez supernatural graphic novels, and the spy thriller Exit Strategy.

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for May 16, 2011

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!).

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This week's letters and mystery clue:

A C E I L M N O S

This author introduced Pru Marlowe in the pet noir mystery Dogs Don’t Lie (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!

Enter to Win the Audio Movie Vengeance by A. J. Scudiere

We are so thrilled to be participating in a giveaway for A. J. Scudiere's audio movie Vengeance, nominated for a 2011 Audie Award in two categories, Best Audio Drama and Best Thriller/Suspense. The Audie winners will be announced on Tuesday, May 24th, 2011.

Nine years ago, Claymore Beller tried to do the right thing. It was the last thing he did. In retaliation for his efforts, his mafia bosses laid waste to his family. Only the youngest -- Cynthia -- came up fighting.

Three years ago, Lee Maxwell made the same error. His wife and daughter paid for his mistake. In a haze of booze and regret, Lee disappeared.

Now, Owen Dunham is following the trail of the "Grudge Ninja" -- only all his evidence is false and the profilers can't get their heads around anything except the obvious fact that the Ninja is extracting a deadly revenge for an old wrong.

As the Ninja gets bolder and far more dangerous, Owen is forced to recognize that he hasn't always made the right decisions -- he's spent far too much time trying to be right. Even as he questions whether bringing in the Ninja is the right thing to do, the voice in the back of his head is telling him that it will make his career.

For more information about the book, including a free download of the first track of the audio movie, visit the author's website at AJScudiere.com.

For this giveaway, we're doing something a little different. E-mail us at contests(@)omnimystery.com between now and 6 PM ET Tuesday, May 17th, 2011 with the subject "Vengeance", and you'll be entered to win. We'll randomly select 10 winners from all messages received, and we'll e-mail the winners on Tuesday evening, May 17th, 2011 with the code needed to download the audiobook, a $19.95 value, for free. (We value your privacy; see our Privacy Policy for more information.)