Harlequin Mira Mystery and Suspense Titles for September 2011

eHarlequin.com has released the list of September 2011 titles for their Mira imprint, the brightest stars in women's fiction. From all titles available, we've only listed those that are mystery, thriller, or suspense on this page.

For more information about the book from eHarlequin.com, click on the title or cover; other purchase options (see icons below cover) are also provided.

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Saint's Gate by Carla Neggers
Non-Series

When Emma Sharpe is summoned to a convent on the Maine coast, it's partly for her art crimes work with the FBI, partly because of her past with the religious order. At issue is a mysterious painting depicting scenes of Irish lore and Viking legends, and her family's connection to the work. But when the nun who contacted her is murdered, it seems legend is becoming deadly reality.

Colin Donovan is one of the FBI's most valuable assets—a deep-cover agent who prefers to go it alone. He's back home in Maine after wrapping up his latest mission, but his friend Father Bracken presents him with an intrigue of murder, international art heists and a convent's long-held secrets that is too tempting to resist. As the danger spirals ever closer, Colin is certain of only one thing—the very interesting Emma Sharpe is at the center of it all.

A ruthless killer has Emma and Colin in the crosshairs, plunging them into a race against time and drawing them deeper into a twisted legacy of betrayal and deceit.

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In Seconds by Brenda Novak
The Bulletproof Trilogy (2nd in series)

Laurel Hodges has changed her identity twice. She's been on the run for the past four years, trying to outdistance the gang members who blame her for the death of one of their own. She's finally found peace and stability in the small town of Pineview, Montana. But just when Laurel thinks she and her children are safe … the nightmare starts all over again.

The Crew, a ruthless prison gang with ties to Laurel's brother, will never forget and they'll never forgive. And now that they've finally tracked her down, they'll stop at nothing.

Sheriff Myles King, who happens to live next door with his thirteen-year-old daughter, appoints himself Laurel's personal guardian. His growing attraction to her could change his life—Myles is beginning to picture marriage and family. But it could also end his life. If he can't save her, everything he's built, everything he wants, could be destroyed. In seconds …

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Claim of Innocence by Laura Caldwell
An Izzy McNeil Mystery (4th in series)

It was a crime of passion—or so the police say. Valerie Solara has been charged with poisoning her best friend. The prosecution claims she's always been secretly attracted to Amanda's husband … and with Amanda gone, she planned to make her move.

Attorney Izzy McNeil left the legal world a year ago, but a friend's request pulls her into the murder trial. Izzy knows how passion can turn your life upside down. She thought she had it once with her ex-fiancé, Sam. Now she wonders if that's all she has in common with her criminally gorgeous younger boyfriend, Theo.

It's Izzy's job to present the facts that will exonerate her client—whether or not she's innocent. But when she suspects Valerie is hiding something, she begins investigating—and uncovers a web of secret passions and dark motives, where seemingly innocent relationships can prove poisonous …

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The Score by Richard Stark is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Score by Richard Stark as today's third 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 Score by Richard Stark
A Parker Novel
University of Chicago Press

Originally published in 1964 by Donald E. Westlake writing as Richard Stark, this fifth in a series that eventually numbered 24 novels features professional thief Parker (no first name). The first book in the series, The Hunter, was the basis for two films, Point Blank (1967) and Payback (1999). Yet another film based on the character and starring Jason Statham as Parker, is in production.

About The Score (from the publisher): You probably haven’t ever noticed them. But they’ve noticed you. They notice everything. That’s their job. Sitting quietly in a nondescript car outside a bank making note of the tellers’ work habits, the positions of the security guards. Lagging a few car lengths behind the Brinks truck on its daily rounds. Surreptitiously jiggling the handle of an unmarked service door at the racetrack. They’re thieves. Heisters, to be precise. They’re pros, and Parker is far and away the best of them. If you’re planning a job, you want him in. Tough, smart, hardworking, and relentlessly focused on his trade, he is the heister’s heister, the robber’s robber, the heavy’s heavy. You don’t want to cross him, and you don’t want to get in his way, because he’ll stop at nothing to get what he’s after.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

B&N Free Nook Book Download Link.

Mama Does Time by Deborah Sharp is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Mama Does Time by Deborah Sharp 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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Mama Does Time by Deborah Sharp
A Mace Bauer Mystery (1st in series)
Midnight Ink

We reviewed this book when it first came out in 2008, saying, "The writing is sharp and the characters quick-witted. The situations Mama and her daughters find themselves in provide much of the humor, which has an authentic Southern charm to it." You can read our full review on Mysterious Reviews.

About Mama Does Time (from the publisher): Meet Mama: a true Southern woman with impeccable manners, sherbet-colored pantsuits, and four prior husbands, able to serve sweet tea and sidestep alligator attacks with equal aplomb. Mama's antics — especially her penchant for finding trouble — drive her daughters Mace, Maddie, and Marty to distraction.

One night, while settling in to look for ex-beaus on COPS, Mace gets a frantic call from her mother. This time, the trouble is real: Mama found a body in the trunk of her turquoise convertible and the police think she's the killer. It doesn't help that the handsome detective assigned to the case seems determined to prove Mama's guilt or that the cowboy who broke Mace's heart shows up at the local Booze 'n' Breeze in the midst of the investigation. Before their mama lands in prison — just like an embarrassing lyric from a country-western song — Mace and her sisters must find the real culprit.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

B&N Free Nook Book Download Link.

The Cruelest Cut by Rick Reed is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Cruelest Cut by Rick Reed 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 Cruelest Cut by Rick Reed
Non-Series
Pinnacle

This is a repeat offer of a free title by this author, last featured in November 2010.

About The Cruelest Cut (from the publisher): The first victim is attacked in her home. Tied to her bed. Forced to watch every unspeakable act of cruelty — but unable to scream. The second murder is even more twisted. Signed, sealed, and delivered with a message for the police, stuffed in the victim's throat. A fractured nursery rhyme that ends with a warning: "There will be more." For detective Jack Murphy, it's more than a threat. It's a personal invitation to play. And no one plays rougher than Jack. Especially when the killer's pawns are the people he loves …

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

B&N Free Nook Book Download Link.

TNT Orders Scripts for Potential Crime Dramas

TNT has given script orders for several potential series, including two crime dramas.

H.I.K.E. features a police officer, who runs the … are you ready for this? … Home Invasion Kidnapping Enforcement team in Phoenix. Let's hope they change the name if it gets as far as the pilot stage.

Perfect Set — ugh, another awful title — concerns a brother and sister, who solve crimes … and is being described as a Hart to Hart-type drama. Huh?

TNT has a pretty solid record to date for airing interesting and watchable crime dramas, but we think these two, based on admittedly sketchy details, aren't all that appealing. What do you think?

(Source: The Hollywood Reporter.)

New Crime Dramas Airing This Fall on Swedish Television

We were linking our way through the internet as we are sometimes wont to do and stumbled upon several new crime dramas and made-for-television movies premiering this fall on SVT, Sweden's television network. Not that it's likely we'll see any of them soon here in the US — still, they all sound pretty interesting to us — we suspect that plans are already underway somewhere by somebody to make them available to a wider audience.

Arne Dahl consists of ten 90-minute episodes of adaptations of the books in the InterCrime series of crime novels by Arne Dahl (a pseudonym used by Jan Arnald). If we're reading our translation correctly, it seems as if five novels have been adapted, each airing as a 2-part episode: Misterioso, Ont blod, Upp till toppen av berget, Europa Blues and De största av vatten. Of these, only Misterioso has been translated into English (and coincidentally recently reviewed by us at Mysterious Reviews).

Anno 1790 is a historical crime drama set in the late 18th century and features Inspector Johan Gustav Dåådh of the Stockholm police. Our reading of the synopsis suggests to us that this is a straight-forward police procedural, albeit with political undertones. It is scheduled for ten 60-minute episodes.

The description of Bron reminds us of The Killing, though more the Danish version than the American version. A mysterious murder has taken place on the Oresund Bridge, forcing the Swedish and Danish police forces to work together to solve it. Ten 60-minute episodes have been produced.

Finally, a 90-minute made-for-television movie adaptation of Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström's first thriller, The Beast (original Swedish title, Odjuret, which is also the title of the movie) is scheduled to air. The storyline involves the father of a murdered girl taking the law into his own hands after the police fail to arrest her killer after he escapes from prison. Though The Beast is available in English in the UK, we aren't aware of any US editions.

Blood Ties by Sharon Sala is eHarlequin's Freebie Friday Featured Book

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.)

Sharon Sala's second thriller in the "Searchers" trilogy, Blood Ties, is this week's free title.

Click on the banner above to start shopping!

About Blood Ties (from the publisher): Savannah Slade is not the person she thought she was. The reading of her "father's" will has led her to a world-shattering revelation: her sisters are not her blood kin—and she may be the heiress to a massive fortune. Her not-quite-fiancé Judd doesn't care where she came from—he only wants her by his side. But the primal need to uncover her past wins out, and Savannah trades the Montana ranges for Miami's moneyed oceanside enclaves.

The wealthy and powerful Stoss family is less than overjoyed to find that Gerald Stoss's daughter has emerged from the past. But theirs is a clan seldom troubled by … inconveniences. They've always had the means to eradicate any blemish on their perfect lives. One more won't make a difference.

Mike Ripley's Getting Away With Murder September 2011 Issue Now Available

Mike Ripley's excellent monthly ezine, Getting Away With Murder, is out with its September 2011 edition … and its scope this month spans the world, with articles featuring crime novels and films from New Zealand, South Africa, China, Italy, and, of course, the UK.

Entertaining and informative, there's likely to be something of interest for all fans of mystery and suspense.

I Shall Not Want by Debbie Viguié is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature I Shall Not Want by Debbie Viguié 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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I Shall Not Want by Debbie Viguié
A Psalm 23 Mystery (2nd in series)
Abingdon Press

This series of mysteries feature church secretary Cindy Preston and Rabbi Jeremiah Silverman, who were introduced in the 2010 book The Lord is My Shepherd. A third book in the series, Lie Down in Green Pastures, was published earlier this year.

About I Shall Not Want (from the publisher): Charity work can be murder!

It’s Thanksgiving and Joseph Tyler, one of the members of Cindy’s church, has organized a new charity that provides homeless people with rescue dogs to love and care for. But one by one, the homeless recipients are being murdered and their dogs stolen. Could an overly competitive millionaire with his prize-winning pooches and a grudge be behind the crimes? Or could it be someone much closer to Joseph who has something sinister to hide? Cindy and Jeremiah must rush to find a killer before he strikes again.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

B&N Free Nook Book Download Link.

New Screenwriter for Johnny Depp's The Thin Man

It's been a few months since we've had any news on Johnny Depp's adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's 1934 novel The Thin Man.

The last we heard Jerry Stahl was writing the screenplay with Rob Marshall directing. Now we're learning that David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Panic Room, Secret Window with Depp, Angels & Demons) is on board to write the script for Marshall to direct.

We also thought Depp wanted to make the film contemporary a la BBC's new Sherlock adaptations, but Deadline|Hollywood is now reporting that it will be a period piece.

Regardless, this film seems to be years away from reality so we're expecting more changes as the months go by and will keep you posted.

The Mystery Bookshelf: Strange Images of Death by Barbara Cleverly, a Joe Sandilands Mystery

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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Strange Images of Death by Barbara Cleverly
A Joe Sandilands Mystery (8th in series)
Soho Crime (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: August 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-989-6

About Strange Images of Death (from the publisher): Provence, 1926. Scotland Yard detective Joe Sandilands plans to drop his niece at an ancient château on his way down to the Riviera for a much needed holiday.

A troubling crime committed at the château just before their arrival leaves a clear message that more violence is to come. To allay panic, Joe agrees to stay on and root out the guilty person. But, despite Joe's vigilance, a child goes missing and an artist's beautiful young model is murdered in circumstances eerily recreating a six hundred-year-old crime of passion.

Helped and hindered by a rising star of the French Police Judiciaire, Joe must delve into a horror story from the castle's past before he can tear the mask from the diseased soul responsible for these contemporary crimes.

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About the author: Born in the north of England and a graduate of Durham University, this former teacher now lives in Cambridge. Her Joe Sandilands series, set against the background of the Indian Empire, was inspired by the contents of a battered old tin trunk that she found in her attic.

 Crime novels by Barbara Cleverly reviewed by Mysterious Reviews: Folly du Jour (2008) and Strange Images of Death (2010).

Purchase Options for Strange Images of Death:

The Debt Opens in Theaters Wednesday, August 31st

The political thriller The Debt has a rare Wednesday debut, and will open in theaters tomorrow, August 31st.

The story begins in 1997, as shocking news reaches retired Mossad secret agents Rachel Singer (Helen Mirren) and Stephan Gold (Tom Wilkinson) about their former colleague David Peretz (Ciarán Hinds). All three have been venerated for decades by Israel because of the secret mission that they embarked on for their country back in 1965-1966, when the trio (portrayed, respectively, by Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, and Sam Worthington) tracked down Nazi war criminal Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christensen), the feared Surgeon of Birkenau, in East Berlin. While Rachel found herself grappling with romantic feelings during the mission, the net around Vogel was tightened by using her as bait.

At great risk, and at considerable personal cost, the team’s mission was accomplished … or was it?

The Debt is a remake of the 2007 Israeli film Ha-Hov. Watch the trailer for the film below.

Another UK Quad Poster for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

A new UK quad poster has been released for the film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, adapted from the bestselling spy thriller by John le Carré. Click on the image for a larger version.

It's a variation on others we've seen, but this one shows all the principals in the cast.

Gary Oldman stars as retired MI-6 agent George Smiley, who is tasked with finding a mole within his former organization, only to learn that it can only be one of his most trusted colleagues.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which also stars stars Colin Firth (Bill Haydon, "Tailor"), Mark Strong (Jim Prideaux), Benedict Cumberbatch (Peter Guillam), Ciarán Hinds (Roy Bland, "Soldier"), Toby Jones (Percy Alleline, "Tinker"), and Kathy Burke (Connie Sachs), opens in US theaters November 18th, 2011.

Review: The Medusa Plot by Gordon Korman

The Medusa Plot by Gordon Korman. The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers Series. Scholastic Hardcover, August 2011.

Though they have solved the mystery behind the 39 clues, the adventures for Amy and Dan Cahill continue when they are blackmailed into stealing the famed Medusa painting by Caravaggio in this exciting first book of a new series for pre-teens.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: The Medusa Plot by Gordon Korman.