Earlier today (this evening, UK time) at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, the Crime Writers' Association announced the winners of several of its annual "Dagger" awards.
The International Dagger (best translated crime novel) was given to Three Seconds by Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström. It was originally published in 2009 as Tre Sekunder in Sweden.
Other Daggers went to Phil Lovesey for his short story "Homework", Michele Rowe for her debut novel What Hidden Lies, and Douglas Starr for the non-fiction work The Killer of Little Shepherds.
The Dagger in the Library went to Mo Hayder for her body of work, rather for than a single title.
Longlists for its other Daggers (Gold, Ian Fleming Steel, and New Blood) were also announced and can be found on the organization's website. Shortlists for these awards will be announced in late August, with the winners announced on October 7th, 2011.
Friday, July 22, 2011
The CWA Announces 2011 Dagger Award Winners
Mr. E. Reviews I Am Number Four
Purchase/Rental Option(s)
The first hour or so of this film, adapted from the young adult thriller of the same title by the pseudonymous Pittacus Lore, is largely character- and plot-driven. But Alex Pettyfer's dreadful performance as the titular Number Four and a rather poorly executed series of action scenes towards the end mar what could have otherwise been a pretty decent film.
Read the full text of our review at Mr. E. Reviews I Am Number Four.
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Mr. E. Reviews is your source for mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime drama reviews of television and film.
Poisoned Pen Press Announces Recipients of 2011 Library Book Giveaway
Independent publisher of mystery, suspense and thriller books Poisoned Pen Press has announced the recipients of their 2011 Library Book Giveaway. The libraries, chosen by four randomly selected attendees to the American Library Association Annual Conference in New Orleans, will receive $500 in the publisher's titles.
The libraries are ...
St. Charles Parish Library in Destrehan (LA); Lake County Public Library in Merrillville (IN); Chazy Public Library in Chazy (NY); and Bristol Area Library in New Harbor (ME).
Robert Rosenwald, Poisoned Pen Press Publisher and President, commented, "In this age of budget cuts and library staff reductions, Poisoned Pen Press felt compelled to offer a special promotion for libraries. It was an honor to give back to the library community, a community that has supported Poisoned Pen Press, its mission, and its catalogue of titles, for nearly 15 years. We extend our congratulations to each of these winners and our special thanks to the loyal and dedicated librarians for their service to readers and communities across the country."
The Bluejay Shaman by Lise McClendon is Today's Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Bluejay Shaman by Lise McClendon as today's free mystery ebook. 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 we urge you to download it while it is still available for free.
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The Bluejay Shaman by Lise McClendon
An Alix Thorssen Mystery (1st in series)
Thalia Press
Note: Earlier this week we featured One O'Clock Jump by this same author as a free Kindle book ... which as of the date and time of this post, it still is.
About The Bluejay Shaman (from the publisher): Traveling the back roads of Montana, not-quite-fearless art gallery owner Alix Thorssen is far from home and up to her Ray-Bans in shaman's secrets, mysterious deaths, madness, and – ah yes – passion among the pine needles. Whoever killed Shiloh Merkin hated her and wanted her dead. But did Wade Fraser, Alix's brother-in-law and University of Montana anthropology professor, do the deed? What happened to the petroglyph of the bluejay shaman? Alix follows a trail of sex, moonlit rituals, and legendary artifacts as another murder leads her to a chilling confrontation with the killer.
Download Link(s):
New Trailer for Dexter Season 6
Showtime has released a two minute trailer for the sixth season of Dexter, which we've embedded below.
The series, based on a character created by crime novelist Jeff Lindsay, stars Michael C. Hall as forensic blood spatter expert Dexter Morgan. The basis for his expertise? Dexter is also a ruthless serial killer. (The opening scene in the trailer confirms this.)
Dexter returns on October 2nd, 2011.
New Teaser Poster for The Raven
A promotional (teaser) poster for next year's The Raven has been released (right; click image for larger view). Though it doesn't say much about the movie itself, it is an arresting image nonetheless.
The Raven stars John Cusak as Edgar Allan Poe, who teams up with Detective Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) to stop a serial killer, who is using Poe's own work as inspiration for his crimes.
Directed by James McTeigue, The Raven opens in theaters March 9th, 2012.
Winner of the 2011 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award Announced
Yesterday, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival opened in Harrogate. As part of the opening day festivities, the winner of the Crime Novel of the Year Award was announced ... and is Lee Child for 61 Hours, the 14th book in his series featuring Jack Reacher. "I remember when I was writing 61 Hours that I felt it had come out nicely," the author said, "but to have the recognition is great."
Crime novelist P. D. James was also honored with the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award.
Mystery Bestsellers for the Week Ending July 22nd, 2011
A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending July 22nd, 2011 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.
Only some minor shuffling among the top six, with Janet Evanovich's 17th numbered Stephanie Plum mystery, Smokin' Seventeen still atop the bestselling mystery list. Four new title move into the top 15.
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Moving up 9 positions to number 10 is Iron House, a novel of suspense by John Hart.
At the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, there was nothing but time. Time to burn and time to kill, time for two young orphans to learn that life isn’t won without a fight. Julian survives only because his older brother, Michael, is fearless and fiercely protective. When tensions boil over and a boy is brutally killed, there is only one sacrifice left for Michael to make: He flees the orphanage and takes the blame with him.
For two decades, Michael has been an enforcer in New York’s world of organized crime, a prince of the streets so widely feared he rarely has to kill anymore. But the life he’s fought to build unravels when he meets Elena, a beautiful innocent who teaches him the meaning and power of love. He wants a fresh start with her, the chance to start a family like the one he and Julian never had. But someone else is holding the strings. And escape is not that easy.
The mob boss who gave Michael his blessing to begin anew is dying, and his son is intent on making Michael pay for his betrayal. Determined to protect the ones he loves, Michael spirits Elena—who knows nothing of his past crimes, or the peril he’s laid at her door—back to North Carolina, to the place he was born and the brother he lost so long ago. There, he will encounter a whole new level of danger, a thicket of deceit and violence that leads inexorably to the one place he’s been running from his whole life: Iron House.
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Debuting in the 11th spot is the 11th mystery to feature Gabriel Allon, Portrait of a Spy by Daniel Silva.
For Gabriel and his wife, Chiara, it was supposed to be the start of a pleasant weekend in London—a visit to a gallery in St. James’s to authenticate a newly discovered painting by Titian, followed by a quiet lunch. But a pair of deadly bombings in Paris and Copenhagen has already marred this autumn day. And while walking toward Covent Garden, Gabriel notices a man he believes is about to carry out a third attack. Before Gabriel can draw his weapon, he is knocked to the pavement and can only watch as the nightmare unfolds.
Haunted by his failure to stop the massacre of innocents, Gabriel returns to his isolated cottage on the cliffs of Cornwall, until a summons brings him to Washington and he is drawn into a confrontation with the new face of global terror. At the center of the threat is an American-born cleric in Yemen to whom Allah has granted “a beautiful and seductive tongue.” A gifted deceiver, who was once a paid CIA asset, the mastermind is plotting a new wave of attacks.
Gabriel and his team devise a daring plan to destroy the network of death from the inside, a gambit fraught with risk, both personal and professional. To succeed, Gabriel must reach into his violent past. A woman waits there—a reclusive heiress and art collector who can traverse the murky divide between Islam and the West. She is the daughter of an old enemy, a woman joined to Gabriel by a trail of blood.
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Coming in just two places lower is Split Second, the 15th FBI suspense thriller by Catherine Coulter.
A serial killer is on the loose, and it's up to FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock to bring him down. They soon discover that the killer has blood ties to the infamous and now long-dead monster Ted Bundy. Savich and Sherlock are joined by agents Lucy Carlyle and Cooper McKnight, and the chase is on.
At the same time, Agent Carlyle learns from her dying father that her grandfather didn't simply walk away from his family twenty-two years ago: he was, in fact, murdered by his wife, Lucy's grandmother. Determined to find the truth, Lucy moves into her grandmother's Chevy Chase mansion. What she finds, however, is a nightmare. Not only does she discover the truth of what happened all those years ago, but she faces a new mystery as well, a strange ring that holds powers beyond her ken.
As the hunt for the serial killer escalates, Savich realizes he's become the killer's focus, and perhaps the next victim. It's up to Lucy to stop this madness before it's too late.
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Finally, moving up 7 places into 15th position is Quinn by Iris Johansen.
As a former Navy SEAL turned cop, Joe Quinn has seen the face of evil and knows just how deadly it can be. When he first met Eve Duncan, he never expected to fall in love with a woman whose life would be defined by her dual desires to bring home her missing daughter and discover the truth behind her disappearance—no matter how devastating. With the help of CIA agent Catherine Ling, they make a shocking discovery that sheds new light on young Bonnie’s abduction and puts Quinn squarely in the crosshairs of danger. Eve’s first love, John Gallo, a soldier supposedly killed in the line of duty, is very much alive—and very much a threat.
Emotionally charged, with one shock after another, Quinn reveals the electricity of Joe and Eve’s first connection, and how they fell in love in the midst of haunting tragedy. As their search takes them deeper and deeper into a web of murder and madness, Joe and Eve must confront their most primal fears ... and test their resolve to uncover the ultimate bone-chilling truth.
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For more mystery books news, please 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.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Warner Bros. Options Film Rights to A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Warner Bros. has optioned the film rights to Deborah Harness's debut novel, A Discovery of Witches.
A top-of-the-charts bestseller earlier this year, it's a tale about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.
Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.
A Discovery of Witches is the first in the "All Souls" trilogy of novels by Harkness.
(Source: Deadline|New York)
Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense Titles for August 2011
eHarlequin.com has released the list of August 2011 titles in their Love Inspired Suspense series. Love Inspired Suspense books combine suspense, romance, hope and faith to create a unique page-turning series that today’s readers love.
For more information about the book from eHarlequin.com, click on the title or cover; other purchase options (Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble, and The Book Depository) are also provided..
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Agent Undercover
What does little Alex know?
The traumatized six-year-old boy hasn't said one word since the unsolved murder of his single mother. And now, the killer is after the child—and the devoted uncle raising him, Dr. Dylan Seabrook. Working undercover in the boy's school, DEA agent Paige Ashworth is determined to find the murderer. But she can't tell Dylan her real identity, what she knows—or just how close to the case she really is. Dylan's strength and fierce love for his nephew soon have Paige longing to join their family. First, though, they must catch a killer who never wants little Alex to speak again.
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On Deadly Ground
Danger in the darkness...
The prowler on the construction site of her new camp didn't frighten Rachel Patterson…at first. Fear comes when her home is torched—and worsens when a body is unearthed on the campgrounds. Someone's trying to cover up a murder, and if Rachel can identify the intruder, she might be the only witness. Her neighbor, Wildlife Conservation Officer Jake Campbell, is determined to keep the lovely widow safe. But when a misunderstanding separates the pair, their distance risks more than the growing feelings between them. It leaves Rachel alone and unguarded, which could be just the chance the killer needs …
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Buried Truth
"Coming for you."
A note, impaled by a knife on Bill Cloudman's door, tells the former tribal agent a murderer has escaped. The vicious madman who murdered Bill's partner—and cost Bill the community's trust and his job—is on the loose in the South Dakota badlands again. Bill vows to put him behind bars once and for all. But when the woman he loved and lost returns to Eagle Rock reservation as a newspaper reporter determined to restore her own reputation with the story, Bill has to protect her … and his guarded heart.
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The Baby's Bodyguard
A shocking discovery …
When an anonymous text message arrives with photos of tiny hands and feet—and GPS coordinates—Florida cop Ethan Clark believes it's a prank. Then he follows the coordinates to an abandoned toddler. Handing Janie Doe over to caring child services worker Kelsey Rogers, Ethan thinks his job is done … until the little girl turns out to be a kidnap victim. To protect the child, Ethan and Kelsey stumble into an investigation that digs up a tragedy from Ethan's past. Will they uncover the truth before the kidnappers bury the trail forever?
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