Capitol Reflections by Jonathan Javitt is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Capitol Reflections by Jonathan Javitt 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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Capitol Reflections by Jonathan Javitt
Gwen Maulder (1st in series)
The Story Plant

Jonathan Javitt's background as a physician and scientist, who has served as a senior White House health advisor in the three presidential administrations, serves him well in his debut political/medical thriller. In addition to his White House roles, Javitt serves as a Senior Fellow in the National Security Health Policy Center and advises the World Bank and the health ministries of several foreign countries. Though this title, originally published in 2008, is listed as the first in a series, the second has yet to be published.

About Capitol Reflections (from the publisher): When Marci Newman, the best friend of FDA scientist Gwen Maulder, dies mysteriously, Gwen refuses to believe that the cause was natural. Marci was simply too young and too healthy. Gwen makes it her mission to determine why Marci really died, even though her superiors and even her husband implore her to move on. What she discovers is much bigger and much more horrifying than she ever anticipated.

Her efforts will put her in opposition to some very influential people, people who have every reason to prevent her from discovering their secret … and, more importantly, the power to stop her. As people keep dying, Gwen must go underground to find the answers — risking her life and the lives of those she loves in an attempt to prevent a nationwide disaster.

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.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Mystery Bestsellers for the Week Ending November 18, 2011

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending November 18th, 2011 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

Just a bit of minor shuffling among the top bestselling mysteries this week, with The Litigators by John Grisham retaining the number one spot. Two new titles debut this week.

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Coming in at number 8 is the 22nd Kinsey Millhone mystery, V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton.

A woman with a murky past who kills herself — or was it murder? A spoiled kid awash in gambling debt who thinks he can beat the system. A lovely woman whose life is about to splinter into a thousand fragments. A professional shoplifting ring working for the Mob, racking up millions from stolen goods. A wandering husband, rich and ruthless. A dirty cop so entrenched on the force he is immune to exposure. A sinister gangster, conscienceless and brutal. A lonely widower mourning the death of his lover, desperate for answers, which may be worse than the pain of his loss. A private detective, Kinsey Millhone, whose thirty-eighth-birthday gift is a punch in the face that leaves her with two black eyes and a busted nose.

And an elegant and powerful businessman whose dealings are definitely outside the law: the magus at the center of the web.

V: Victim. Violence. Vengeance.

Purchase Options:

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Just one place lower at number 9 is the latest Alex Cross mystery, Kill Alex Cross by James Patterson.

The President's son and daughter are abducted, and Detective Alex Cross is one of the first on the scene. But someone very high-up is using the FBI, Secret Service, and CIA to keep him off the case and in the dark.

A deadly contagion in the water supply cripples half of the capital, and Alex discovers that someone may be about to unleash the most devastating attack the United States has ever experienced.

As his window for solving both crimes narrows, Alex makes a desperate decision that goes against everything he believes — one that may alter the fate of the entire country.

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.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 Opens in Theaters Friday, November 18th

The conclusion of "The Twilight Saga" begins this Friday, November 18th, 2011 when Breaking Dawn Part 1 hits theaters.

Adapted from the fourth and final novel in the series by Stephenie Meyer, the film stars Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, who weds Edward Cullen (played by Robert Pattinson). Together they must deal with the chain of consequences brought on by their marriage, honeymoon, and the tumultuous birth of a child, which brings an unforeseen and shocking development for Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner).

Fans will have to wait another year for the conclusion to the film, which has a scheduled release date of November 16th, 2012.

Watch the film's trailer below.

Endemol Adapting its Dutch Crime Drama Penoza for US Television

Melissa Rosenberg — who adapted all of "The Twilight Saga" novels and served as co-executive producer on Dexter — has partnered with ABC and Endemol Studios to adapt the latter's Dutch crime drama Penoza for US audiences. She will also executive produce.

In the series first season, Carmen van Walraven-de Rue witnesses her husband's brutal murder. Her first instinct is to protect her children. Her husband was doing business with gangsters and he paid the ultimate price.

Carmen already knows the violent world of organized crime, her father was a gangster too. She and her sister had always wished for a safer life without bloodshed and fear. For a while Carmen believed their wish had come true until her husband makes his fatal mistake.

The police promise justice. They will protect her family. But Carmen won’t take chances with her children. This is a battle Carmen must fight herself. She will find her husband’s killer. She will beat the gangsters at their own deadly game.

Penoza is currently filming its second season.

(Source: Deadline.)

PBS Announces Schedule for Second Season of Sherlock

PBS announced this morning its Winter/Spring 2012 schedule and as expected, the second series of Sherlock episodes will kick off the summer season of Masterpiece Mystery! on May 6th, 2012.

Three episodes will air from May 6th through the 20th, adapted from the Holmes' stories A Scandal in Belgravia, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and The Final Problem (filmed as "The Reichenbach Fall").

Sherlock stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson. We thought the first series was simply superb — read our review at Mr. E. Reviews: Sherlock Series 1 — and are eagerly looking forward to the second season.

(Source: Press Release.)

OMN Welcomes Crime Novelist Kurt Kamm

Omnimystery News is pleased to welcome author Kurt Kamm, whose third crime is Code Blood (MCM Publishing, November 2011 trade paperback).

Today Kurt writes about how he worked his way through the storyline of his latest mystery. And he's also giving one of our readers a chance to win a copy of his new book; see details below.

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People who read my novels always ask me how I develop my plots. I have heard that some mystery writers create a detailed outline of the events in each chapter, and know exactly how their mystery will end before they write the opening sentence. I have tried to do this several times and it has not worked. I find myself unable to start with anything more than a general premise. Once I have that idea, I can imagine the opening events and soon the main characters are living out their own lives within the mystery. All I do is listen to them in my head and write their stories. Sometimes I try to tell them they are making mistakes, or that they are painting themselves into a corner, but they never seem to listen. Sometimes I have to really assert myself to help them out. Confidentially, I'll tell you they tend to ignore me and never say thanks.

Photo provided courtesy of Kurt Kamm

In my latest firefighter mystery, Code Blood, the novel begins with an unusual accident in front of a restaurant on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. A speeding pickup hits a metal light pole and when the pole comes down, the jagged edge severs the foot of a woman standing nearby. This was an actual event as described to me by a Los Angeles County Fire paramedic. He went on to tell me that the foot was missing for almost half an hour until it was found wedged under the engine compartment of the truck. This was enough to get me started.

The first thing I imagined was a weird guy coming out of the restaurant with the remainder of his dinner in a doggie bag. What would happen if he decided to pick up the foot and take it home? What kind of creep would do that? If he took home a severed foot, what other crazy stuff was he doing? Maybe he was involved with a gang of Russian body parts dealers?

What would happen if the responding paramedic was on his first run? Could he accept the fact that his patient's foot was missing? When he found out she died on the MediVac helicopter, what was his reaction? This is a guy who has dedicated his career as a firefighter to saving people and now he's a paramedic and loses his first accident victim. How does he feel? The least he can do is find her foot, right?

As I worked my way through the story, other characters materialized. A Chinese graduate student doing stem cell research, an exotic dancer with a full upper body tattoo, and some crazies from the underside of Los Angeles—all appeared when the story needed them. They were actually doing their own thing and just happened to get involved in the events of my mystery. I enjoyed meeting some of them; others were a menace to society.

I always have to do some rewrites and some backtracking in my plots, because my characters rarely cooperate. I do have more damn fun meeting these people and trying to figure out what they will do next.

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Kurt Kamm is retired and lives with his wife in Malibu, California. He spends much of his time with the Los Angeles County Fire Department and attends many of their training exercises and classes. His previous firefighter novel, Red Flag Warning: A Serial Arson Mystery (2010), won three first place mystery fiction awards. He is currently working on his fourth firefighter mystery, Hazardous Material. Learn more about Kurt Kamm and his books at KurtKamm.com.

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About Code Blood:

Colt Lewis, a rookie fire paramedic, is obsessed with finding the severed foot of his first victim after she dies in his arms. His search takes him into the connected lives of a graduate research student, with the rarest blood in the world and the vampire fetishist who is stalking her. Within the corridors of high-stakes medical research laboratories, the shadow world of body parts dealers, and the underground Goth clubs of Los Angeles, Lewis uncovers a tangled maze of needles, drugs and maniacal ritual, all of which lead to death. But whose death?

 

For a chance to win a copy of Code Blood, courtesy of the author, visit Mystery Book Contests, click on the "Kurt Kamm: Code Blood" contest link, enter your name, e-mail address, and this code (8227) for a chance to win! (One entry per person; contest ends 11/23/2011.)

Review: Secret Combinations by Gordon Cope

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Secret Combinations by Gordon Cope.

Open Season by Archer Mayor is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Open Season by Archer Mayor 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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Open Season by Archer Mayor
A Joe Gunther Mystery
Gere Donovan Press

First published in 1998, Open Season is the debut mystery in the long-running Joe Gunther series.

About Open Season (from the publisher): Lt. Joe Gunther of the Brattleboro, Vermont police force has a serious problem: in a community where a decade could pass without a single murder, the body count is suddenly mounting. Innocent citizens are being killed — and others set-up — seemingly orchestrated by a mysterious ski-masked man. Signs suggest that a three year-old murder trial might lie at the heart of things, but it’s a case that many in the department would prefer remained closed. A man of quiet integrity, Lt. Gunther knows that he must pursue the case to its conclusion, wherever it leads.

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):

Apple Free iBook Download Link (via iTunes).

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Medical Error by Richard L. Mabry is Today's Second Featured Second Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Medical Error by Richard L. Mabry as today's second 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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Medical Error by Richard L. Mabry
A Prescription for Trouble Medical Thriller
Abingdon Press

This repeat freebie from August is the second in this four book series that the author collectively calls "medical suspense with heart".

About Medical Error (from the publisher): Dr. Anna McIntyre's life was going along just fine until someone else started living it. Her patient died because of an identity mix-up, her medical career is in jeopardy because of forged prescriptions, and her credit is in ruins. She thought things couldn't get worse, but that was before she opened the envelope and saw a positive HIV test with her name on it. Her allies are two men who are also competing for her affection. Dr. Nick Valentine is a cynic who carries a load of guilt. Attorney Ross Donovan is a recovering alcoholic. The deeper Anna digs to discover who's behind the identity thefts, the higher the stakes. Finally, when her life is on the line, Anna finds that her determination to clear her name might have been a prescription for trouble.

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.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Second Star by Dana Stabenow is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Second Star by Dana Stabenow 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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Second Star by Dana Stabenow
A Star Svensdotter Novel
Gere Donovan Press

Dana Stabenow is probably best known for her two mystery series set in Alaska. But in the early 1990s she also wrote a trilogy of science fiction thrillers featuring Esther "Star" Svensdotter. Second Star is the first of these books.

About Second Star (from the publisher): When the Betelgeuse message was detected, it changed a lot of things on Earth. We began to look seriously outward, not with the heady optimism of the early days, but with deliberate calculation. We knew that Someone was out there, and that eventually, they’d be coming. If Earth didn’t occupy the High Frontier, it could be ours to lose.

Esther “Star” Svensdotter’s job is overseeing the completion of the American Alliance’s first O’Neill cylinder — a massive space hab capable of supporting thousands of colonists. It’s just weeks away from commissioning, and she’ll be damned if Luddite terrorists, squabbling bureaucrats, military takeovers or rogue AIs will stand in the way. Frontier justice on Ellfive sometimes involves an airlock — you don’t want to be on the wrong side of justice. Or the wrong side of Star Svensdotter.

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.

Apple Free iBook Download Link (via iTunes).

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Murdoch Mysteries Renewed for 6th Season by CBC

Here's some good news.

Last month we reported that Citytv had canceled the historical crime drama Murdoch Mysteries, even though the series was popular with viewers.

Now we're learning that CBC has picked up the series, with production on the sixth season to begin in the spring of 2012.

Murdoch Mysteries is based on characters created by crime novelist Maureen Jennings, who featured William Murdoch, a turn-of-the-20th-century Toronto police detective played by Yannick Bisson in the television series, in seven mysteries published between 1997 and 2007. Her daughter, Christina Jennings, a producer on the show, says that "the series has many stories left to tell and that she looks forward to bringing the show to a national audience."

(Source: The Globe and Mail.)

Telemystery: NBC's Prime Suspect Ceases Production

Yesterday we reported that Prime Suspect was left off NBC's mid-season schedule … though the series had not (yet) been officially canceled by the network.

To be sure, NBC still hasn't confirmed the series demise, but the production crew have been told that the episode they're currently working on — the 13th — will be their last.

It's certainly not fair of us to criticize the show since we haven't seen a single episode of it, but this remake was always going to be compared to the original UK version and it was unlikely to ever be compared favorably. We never did understand — or appreciate — the risk/reward value of the show in that context and why NBC believed they had a winner on their hands. They clearly didn't.

Review: Champagne for Buzzards by Phyllis Smallman

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Champagne for Buzzards by Phyllis Smallman.

Razorbill to Publish Novel about a Teenage Detective with Asperger's Syndrome

Razorbill, the young adult imprint of Penguin, has announced that it will publish the first novel by screenwriters Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz (Andromeda, Fringe, X-Men: First Class) titled Colin Fischer.

The titular character is a 14-year-old boy with Asperger's Syndrome, who forms an unlikely partnership with a bully accused of shooting a gun in their school cafeteria. Colin believes his former tormenter is innocent, and sets out to prove it.

Miller and Stentz also plan to adapt their book for film.

(Source: Deadline.)

Crime Mini-Series Whitechapel and Aspen, New This Week on DVD

In the 6-part BBC crime drama Whitechapel: The Ripper Returns from 2009, Detective Inspector Joseph Chandler (Rupert Penry-Jones) arrives in London's working-class Whitechapel, site of Jack the Ripper's 19th-century rampage, to head up a murder inquiry. Detective Ray Miles (Philip Davis), a hard-bitten veteran, is none too happy to report to such a posh fellow, but Chandler gives the case his all, making the rest of the team look like slackers.

After the first brutal killing, Edward Buchan (Steve Pemberton), a local Ripperologist, suggests that the culprit may be a copycat.

As the murder rate rises and clues are scarce, this unlikely trio sets out to solve the most famous unsolved murder case in history — Jack the Ripper — the first internationally known serial killer. Will the unlikely team succeed where 120 years ago others failed, and solve the most famous unsolved murder case in history?

Television mini-series adaptations of popular fiction were at one time all the rage, and Aspen, loosely adapted from the 1973 novel The Adversary by Bart Spicer and airing on NBC over three consecutive nights in November 1977, is a prime example of such.

Filmed on location in Aspen, Colorado — the winter playground of the rich and famous — this sprawling 3-part miniseries of sex, greed, ambition, and murder details the trial of Lee Bishop (Perry King), a local man who was arrested, tried and sentenced to die for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl, a crime for which Bishop is not guilty. As the years pass and Bishop sits on death row, his attorney and friend Tom Keating (Sam Elliott), does everything in his power to clear Bishop's name and find the true killer.