Mystery Bestsellers for the Week Ending February 24, 2012

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending February 24th, 2012 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

Vince Flynn's 12th Mitch Rapp thriller Kill Shot repeats as number one this week.

One new title debuts and another moves up into the top 15.

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New at number 9 is — we've lost count … let's just call it the nth "In Death" mystery — Celebrity in Death by J. D. Robb.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas is no party girl, but she's managing to have a reasonably good time at the celebrity-packed bash celebrating The Icove Agenda, a film based on one of her famous cases. It's a little spooky seeing the actress playing her, who looks almost like her long-lost twin. Not as unsettling, though, as seeing the actress who plays Peabody drowned in the lap pool on the roof of the director's luxury building.

Now she's at the center of a crime scene — and Eve is more than ready to get out of her high heels and strap on her holster and step into the role she was born to play: cop.

Purchase Options:

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Moving up from 22 last week to 14 this week is Restless in the Grave by Dana Stabenow, which brings together both of the author's series characters, Kate Shugak and Liam Campbell.

Alaska aviation entrepreneur Finn Grant died in the fiery crash of his Piper Super Cub. Someone sabotaged his engine, and virtually everyone in southwestern Alaska has a motive, including his betrayed wife, his bullied children, and Liam’s wife, bush pilot Wyanet Chouinard. With few places to turn, Liam asks his former mentor Niniltna post commander Sergeant Jim Chopin, for help, and Jim quickly brings Kate onto the case.

Working undercover as—of all things—a waitress at Bill’s Bar and Grill, Kate learns over beer and burgers that Grant’s business had expanded meteorically over the last two years. After buying the closed Air Force base south of town from the federal government at a bargain-basement price, he became a fixed-base operator running his fishing, hunting, and flight-seeing business, servicing planes flying through the area, and most interestingly and lucratively, getting into the air freight business. But what kind of freight was he moving, and where?

The answers involve Kate in her most challenging case to date, one that starts with murder and quickly sprawls into a much larger conspiracy ranging from the darkest family secrets to treason and beyond.

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.

FX Renews Archer for a 4th Season

FX Networks has renewed Archer for a fourth season.

"It was an easy decision to order more Archer," said Executive Vice President of Original Programming Nick Grad. "Adam, Matt, and our amazing voice cast are delivering one of the funniest and smartest shows on television. It has deservedly grown beyond its initial cult following to become both a critical and ratings success. It is a true asset to the FX comedy roster."

Archer is a half-hour animated series set at the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS), a spy agency where espionage and global crises are merely opportunities for its highly trained employees to confuse, undermine, betray and royally screw each other.

FX is currently airing the third season of the series, which can be seen on Thursdays at 10 PM (ET/PT).

New International Quad Poster for The Cold Light of Day

The marketing folks for the action-thriller The Cold Light of Day have been working overtime! We've recently previewed two trailers — US and international — and a US poster.

Now we have the international (UK) quad poster for the film (right; click for slightly larger version). This poster's tagline: "Time is running out" — not the marketing department's best effort. Despite co-star Sigourney Weaver's name on the poster, there's no image of her here.

We're looking forward to the film, more for its stars than its storyline, which has Will Shaw (Henry Cavill) arriving in Spain for a week-long sailing vacation with his family. But the stressed young businessman is not in a holiday mood. His start-up company just went under and his tense relationship with his disciplinarian father Martin (Bruce Willis) only makes matters worse. But when the family is kidnapped by what turns out to be intelligence agents hell-bent on recovering a mysterious suitcase, Will suddenly finds himself on the run. His whole world turns upside down when Martin reappears, revealing he is an undercover agent tangled in an intergovernmental web of lies and secrets. During a clandestine rendezvous, Martin is killed by a sniper, and Will must find a way to get the rest of his family back alive.

The Cold Light of Day opens in US and UK theaters April 6th, 2012.

Review: Dead and Not So Buried by James L. Conway

Read our … Review of Dead and Not So Buried by James L. Conway. A Gideon Kincaid Mystery. Camel Press Trade Paperback, February 2012.

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Little, Brown to Publish J. K. Rowling's First Adult Novel

Little, Brown — a unit of Hachette Book Group — announced today that it will publish J. K. Rowling's first adult novel.

"Although I've enjoyed writing it every bit as much, my next book will be very different to the Harry Potter series," said Rowling.

Which is about all we know about the book, so we're not at all sure what genre it will be. The title, date of publication, and further details will be announced later this year.

New Season of Foyle's War Commissioned

We're not sure if this is new news or old news, but it's great news.

Foyle's War is returning for an eighth season (series).

Acorn Media, ITV, and Eleventh Hour Films have confirmed a new series of this superb crime drama starring Michael Kitchen and created by novelist and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz.

Series 8 will be set during the early period after World War II with Foyle focusing his attention on the world of espionage as he gathers secret intelligence in support of Britain's security, defense and the Government's foreign and economic policies. The stories will range from Foyle identifying highly placed atomic spies to a true story of government corruption. A world of transition where the values and certainties of the war have given way to austerity, exhaustion and doubts about the direction the new government is taking.

In his new role as a Senior Intelligence Officer, Foyle discovers that the British establishment is rife with communist sympathizers and traitors. In this delicately balanced period in history, 1946-47, Foyle will use all his intelligence, guile and intuition to keep the country safe.

Said Michael Kitchen: "It's great to be wanted and a pleasure to be back."

Three two-hour films have been ordered from Eleventh Hour Films, which takes pride in the research work undertaken for each story as all three episodes are firmly based on true stories from 1946 onwards.

Foyle's War will go into production in London in September, and the new episodes will air in the US and UK in 2013. Anthony Horowitz will write episodes 1 and 3 with David Kane responsible for episode 2.

Speaking about Foyle's new role, Horowitz said, "I have returned to Foyle's War because there are still some amazing stories I want to tell. The war may be over but Foyle's career goes on."

(This will actually be the seventh season — series — for US viewers, as the fourth and fifth UK seasons were combined into a single one, when released as a DVD set in the US. You can read our reviews of the fifth and sixth DVD sets on Mr. E. Reviews.)

Orange as Marmalade by Fran Stewart is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Orange as Marmalade by Fran Stewart as today's second free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Orange as Marmalade by Fran Stewart
A Biscuit McKee Mystery
Publisher: Doggie in the Window Publications

Meet Marmalade, a saucy orange-and-white tabby cat, and Biscuit McKee, the librarian in Martinsville, Georgia. They find a dead body on the library stairs in this first mystery (of five) in the series.

About Orange as Marmalade (from the publisher): Well, actually, Marmalade is the one who finds it, and the fun begins. No one in this small Georgia town admits to knowing why Harlan Schneider was in the library. Everybody knew him. Everybody liked him. Clues (like the small footprint in the blood) seem to point to someone local, but everyone has an alibi.

Then, when Biscuit’s accident-prone sister visits, pursued by a creepy former-boyfriend, Marmalade sees what’s happening, but her humans just won’t listen to her. So she decides to take matters into her own paws.

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. 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.

Graveyard Plots by Bill Pronzini is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Graveyard Plots by Bill Pronzini as today's free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Graveyard Plots by Bill Pronzini
A Short Story Collection
Publisher: Crossroad Press

About Graveyard Plots (from the publisher): In this collection of 23 short stories, the author's style and versatility truly shine. These tales — including three that feature his well-known series character, the "Nameless Detective"— run the gamut from psychological suspense ("Strangers in the Fog") to satire ("A Craving for Originality") to Western Gothic ("The Hanging Man" and "His Name was Legion"). Of special note, "Proof of Guilt" is a dandy murder-in-a-locked-room puzzle; "Multiples" (written with Barry N. Malzberg) is an intriguing literary exercise about a man who can't decide whether to kill his wife or simply write about it; "Rebound" is a solid character piece about a washed-up reporter stalking a once-great basketball player; and "Peekaboo," about the lone tenant in a large, eerie house, has an ending guaranteed to deliver the shivers.

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. 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.

Andrew Pyper's The Demonologist Optioned for Film

Andrew Pyper's new thriller The Demonologist won't even be published until this October by Orion in the UK — we don't think the book has a US publisher yet — but in a preemptive move, Universal Studios has optioned the book for film.

The Demonologist is Pyper's sixth novel, and at least three of his other books are already in early stages of film development: his 2000 Arthur Ellis Award-winning first novel Lost Girls, his third book, The Wildfire Season, and his fourth novel The Killing Circle.

In The Demonologist, Professor David Ullman is among the world's leading authorities on Christian religion and myth. Not that he's a believer. He sees what he teaches as nothing more than entrenched fiction — the "things that go bump in the mind". That's why when he's offered a trip to Venice to be a consultant on a case study based on his expertise as a "demonologist" he accepts, seeing it as a free vacation for his teenage daughter and himself. But what he witnesses in an attic room at an address amidst the decadent splendor of the old city will change what he believes forever. Terrified, David races back to his hotel. But now he has the unshakable feeling that he is no longer alone. And that the voice that passes from his daughter's lips before she jumps from the hotel's roof belongs to a being he has long studied … but until now never thought could ever be real.

(Related article: Deadline.com.)

Gone, a Suspense Thriller, Opens in Theaters February 24th

"No one believes her. Nothing will stop her." The suspense thriller Gone opens in theaters this Friday, February 24th, 2012.

Amanda Seyfried stars as Jill Parrishk, who comes home from a night shift to discover her sister Molly has been abducted. Jill, having escaped from a kidnapping a year before, is convinced that the same serial killer has come back and taken Molly. Since the killer leaves no trace, the police don't have any evidence and can't help her. Afraid that Molly will be dead by sunrise, Jill sets out alone on a nail-biting chase to come face-to-face with the killer. Will she have enough time to find and outwit him, expose his secrets and save her sister?

Directed by Heitor Dhalia from an original screenplay by Allison Burnett, Gone is rated PG-13 for violence and terror, some sexual material, brief language and drug references, and runs for 94 minutes. Watch a trailer for the film below.

MystereBooks: New Carina Press Titles for February 2012

Each month, Omnimystery News is pleased to present new mystery and suspense titles from Carina Press, an ebook only publisher. Links are provided to purchase the ebook from, where available, Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble, Kobo Books, or the Apple iBookstore; click on the banner to the right to be taken to the CarinaPress.com website to browse for other titles.

New ebooks of mystery and suspense for February 2012 from Carina Press include:

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Fatal Flaw by Marie Force
The Fatal Series (4th in series)

Back from their honeymoon, Senator Nick Cappuano and D.C. Police Lieutenant Sam Holland are ready for some normalcy after the whirlwind of their wedding, but someone has other plans for them. When Sam discovers wedding cards containing thinly veiled death threats, she's not sure if she or Nick is the target.

Already on edge, Sam and her team start investigating a series of baffling murders. The victims are well-liked with no known enemies, and the murders are carried out in a clean and efficient manner. Unable to find a clear motive for the deaths, she feels like she's chasing her tail.

With no obvious connection between the victims, Sam soon suspects that she may be the ultimate prize in the killer's clever game. When the danger starts to hit a little too close to home, she has two goals: find the elusive murderer and manage to live long enough to enjoy her happily-ever-after.

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Danger Zone by Dee J. Adams
Adrenaline Highs (2nd in series)

In her ten-year career as a stuntwoman, Ellie Morgan has experienced her share of thrills. None compares to the rush of being behind the wheel of a race car for her latest movie shoot. Certain she was born to race, Ellie's ready to shift gears—but a secret from her past holds her back.

Quinn Reynolds is tired of being in the driver's seat of his family's company, Formula Racing Design. He's ready to sell—if he can get his co-owner and brother, Mac, to agree. Quinn's not sure what he wants to do with his future, but almost as soon as he meets Ellie, he knows he wants her to be part of it.

Though Ellie tries to resist her attraction to the charming businessman, she's quickly in danger of losing her heart. But after narrowly escaping "accidents" both on and off the set, it becomes clear that getting involved with Quinn could be downright deadly …

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Cat Burglar in Training by Shelley Munro
Non-series

Eve Fawkner had no intention of following in her father's footsteps. But when the thugs harassing him to repay his gambling debts threaten her young daughter, Eve is forced to assume the role of London's most notorious cat burglar, The Shadow. The plan is simple: pull off a couple of heists, pay back the goons and go into permanent retirement. But things get messy during her first job when Eve witnesses a murder, stumbles across a clue that sheds some light on her past and, worst of all, falls for a cop.

Inspector Kahu Williams would be the perfect man, if Eve were looking, and if there wasn't the little matter of their career conflict. The man is seriously hot—and hot on the trail of a murderer. A trail that keeps leading him back to Eve …

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Carina Press, a division of Harlequin, is a digital-first publisher offering ebooks in a variety of genres, including mystery. eBooks from Carina can be read on the Apple iPad, Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, B&N Nook, Kobo eReader BlackBerry and mobile phones.

For more mystery, suspense and thriller ebooks, visit MystereBooks.com.

French Poster for Sci-Fi Thriller Lockout

Last week we featured the US poster for the sci-fi thriller Lockout. As this film is a French production — and opens today in France — we thought it only appropriate to show the French edition (right; click for larger version), an image we rather like a bit more. The poster's tagline: "Seul contre 500 … Où est le problème?", which we think translates as, "Alone against 500 … Where is the problem?". (Apparently the film is titled as two words, Lock Out, overseas.)

Guy Pearce stars as a man wrongly convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage against the US, who is offered his freedom if he can rescue the President's daughter (Maggie Grace) from a prison orbiting 50 miles above the Earth, in which 500 of the world's most dangerous criminals are housed. They're supposed to have been kept asleep by sophisticated technology … but now they've all been awakened and have taken over the facility.

The film is directed by Stephen Saint Leger and James Mather from their screenplay co-written with Luc Besson. It opens in US theaters on April 20th, 2012. And just to complete the whole theme here, watch an international (French) trailer for the Lockout below. (Note: This is an older trailer, when the film was titled MS One: Maximum Security.)