Mystery, Suspense and Thriller Adventure and Casual Games, New This Week from BFG (110723)

Games of Mystery is pleased to announce the availability of new mystery, suspense and thriller adventure and casual games from Big Fish Games released during this past week. You can find out more about these games by visiting our Mystery Games: Big Fish Download Games page or by clicking on the links provided below.

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Nancy Drew heads for Japan where she’s staying at a traditional ryokan (inn) for a little rest and relaxation with friends Bess and George, but when reports of a vengeful ghost start scaring away the guests, Nancy's vacation takes a turn for terror! Along with the rumor of a ghost she also finds a family torn by a recent death, two sisters with very different attitudes toward the family business, a grandmother firmly rooted in traditional Japanese culture, and more. Is there a shadowy specter haunting the placid inn or is something far more sinister driving away business? It'll be up to you, playing as Nancy Drew, to uncover the secret that lies beneath the surface, before the ghost can take its revenge.

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Five explorers have disappeared while searching for evidence of Ancient Astronauts! Join the Unsolved Mystery Club in the hunt for the missing explorers and unlock ancient secrets of the past. Explore exotic locations around the world and uncover artifacts supporting the existence of visitors from other worlds!

This is a special Collector's Edition with features not available in the standard edition, including bonus gameplay, an integrated strategy guide, character art, screensavers and concept art, musical soundtrack, and early access.

See also the previous game in this series, Unsolved Mystery Club: Amelia Earhart.

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Use your Paranormal Crime Investigation skills to solve a string of bizarre murders plaguing the city of New Orleans and stop an ancient magical cult from summoning their monstrous snake god. Called in by Louisiana's PCI central command to investigate a murder using dark magic rituals, you quickly discover the strange and worrying recent happenings in the city are all connected to a strange and ancient cult, the Brotherhood of the Crescent Snake.

This is a special Collector's Edition with features not available in the standard edition, including bonus gameplay, an integrated strategy guide, wallpapers, mini-games, musical soundtrack, and early access.

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Venice. The moon is in the sky. A gondola leaves a mansion where evidence of just finished masquerade ball is in evidence. There are two young ladies in the gondola with umbrellas. The gondola is led by a man in a black long coat and a mask of Medico della Peste. But as soon as the gondola goes under a bridge there are screams ... and then on the other side of the bridge there is the slowly floating gondola ... but with no passengers. There is only a face covered with the mask of Medico della Peste; it is laughing scarily in the darkness ...

For a more in-depth playing experience, see Grim Facade: Mystery of Venice Collector's Edition.

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Get any standard game for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. Other benefits include the $2.99 Daily Deal, Tomorrow's Game Today, and special member rewards. And if you purchase any 6 games within a single month, you earn a free game with the Big Fish Game Club Monthly Punch Card! (Collector's Editions earn 3 punches each, half-way towards your free game!)

Read Ms. Terri's reviews of the adventure and casual mystery games featured on our site, including Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy, Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses!, Enlightenus, and many more!

Big Fish Games: Bestsellers

Big Fish Games: New releases

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Games of Mystery is your source for mystery-themed video, electronic, and board games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations!

The Gathering by William X. Kienzle is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Gathering by William X. Kienzle 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 Gathering by William X. Kienzle
A Father Koesler Mystery (24th and final in series)
Andrews McMeel

About The Gathering (from the publisher): Way back in the 1940s, they had all been young together. Inseparable pals Mike and Manny, both preparing for the priesthood ... Mike's beautiful twin sister, Rose, and her best friend Alice, sharing a dream of becoming nuns ... shy altar boy Stanley and everybody's good friend, Bob Koesler, also headed for the priesthood. Six Detroit adolescents moving step by measured step into the bosom of the church. Or so they believed.

Now, more than fifty years later, one of the six has died a sudden, violent death, and Father Bob Koesler — these days a retired parish priest — is sadly suspicious that someone in this tiny band of lifelong friends may be responsible. But who and why? Before long, Koesler has reason to believe he knows the shocking answer.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

AMC Announces Season Premiere Date, Releases New Trailer for The Walking Dead

AMC announced today the premiere date for the second season of The Walking Dead — October 16th, 2011 — and also released a new, four-plus minute trailer for the series, which we've embedded below.

The storyline is expected to pick up where the first season ended, with Sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) waking up from a coma to discover that the world as knows it is gone, ravaged by a zombie epidemic.

The series is adapted from "The Walking Dead" graphic novels by Robert Kirkman.

The CWA Announces 2011 Dagger Award Winners

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.

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):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

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.

Purchase Options:

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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.

Purchase Options:

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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.

Purchase Options:

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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.

Purchase Options:

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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.