Read our … Review of Left for Dead by J. A. Jance. An Ali Reynolds Mystery. Touchstone Hardcover, February 2012.
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Friday, February 24, 2012
Review: Left for Dead by J. A. Jance
Big Leagues by Jen Estes is Today's Sixth Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Big Leagues by Jen Estes as today's sixth 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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Big Leagues by Jen Estes
A Cat McDaniel Mystery
Publisher: Camel Press
About Big Leagues (from the publisher): Rookie sportswriter Cat McDaniel is on deck in Sin City for the job of a lifetime with baseball's hottest team. The Las Vegas Chips have the best record in baseball, snagging two trophies in their first three years. Erich König, German wunderkind and the Desert's most eligible bachelor, showers her with confidence as her new boss. She's falling faster than a sinkerball for her neighbor — a biology professor whose fetal pigs know more about baseball than he does. She even makes a frienemy at the office, minus the friend and double the enemy: as the team's junior reporter, Dustin Carlyle was on-deck for Cat's position and now he's desperate to get her out of the lineup. Save for the scheming coworker, it's everything she wanted … until a star outfielder's heart stops. When Cat uncovers a baseball conspiracy behind his death, she becomes the newest player in an extreme game of hardball.
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.
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A World I Never Made by James Lepore is Today's Fifth Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature A World I Never Made by James Lepore as today's fifth 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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A World I Never Made by James Lepore
Publisher: The Story Plant
We called this debut novel "an interesting and well-developed character study" but not so much a novel of suspense.
About A World I Never Made (from the publisher): Pat Nolan, an American man, is summoned to Paris to claim the body of his estranged daughter Megan, who has committed suicide. The body, however, is not Megan's and it becomes instantly clear to Pat that Megan staged this, that she is in serious trouble, and that she is calling to him for help.
This sends Pat on an odyssey that stretches across France and into the Czech Republic and that makes him the target of both the French police and a band of international terrorists. Joining Pat on his search is Catherine Laurence, a beautiful but tormented Paris detective who sees in Pat something she never thought she'd find — genuine passion and desperate need. As they look for Megan, they come closer to each others' souls and discover love when both had long given up on it.
Juxtaposed against this story is Megan's story. A freelance journalist, Megan is in Morocco to do research when she meets Abdel Lahani, a Saudi businessman. They begin a torrid affair, a game Megan has played often and well in her adult life. But what she discovers about Lahani puts her in the center of a different kind of game, one with rules she can barely comprehend. Because of her relationship with Lahani, Megan has made some considerable enemies. And she has put the lives of many--maybe even millions — at risk.
Read our review of A World I Never Made by James Lepore.
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.
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Choke on Your Lies by Anthony Neil Smith is Today's Fourth Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Choke on Your Lies by Anthony Neil Smith as today's fourth 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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Choke on Your Lies by Anthony Neil Smith
Publisher: Anthony Neil Smith
The author calls this stand-alone a "homage to one of his favorite detectives, Nero Wolfe."
About Choke on Your Lies (from the publisher): Octavia VanderPlatts is wealthy, powerful, and "comfortable with her weight" — or to hear her say it, a "rich fat b****." Her IQ is at the genius level, and she uses it to manipulate and frighten anyone who tries to get in her way. She controls an empire built on discrimination lawsuits won against some of the nation's top companies. On top of that, Octavia doesn't care one wink what people think of her.
So when she offers her old friend poetry professor Mick Thooft some help in his impending divorce, he smells an ulterior motive. Maybe because Frances didn't invite Octavia to the wedding for fear of her clearing the buffet. Not only does Octavia want to help, but she's got evidence — plenty of scandalous photos. That's not Mick's style, so he turns her down flat … until he discovers that Fran's trying to take their home based on a near-perfect forgery of his signature. After that he and Octavia charge forward, but soon find they're in deeper than they realized — robot pens, swinger clubs, and a blackmail scheme that holds an entire college faculty hostage.
Just when Mick and Octavia are on the cusp of victory, it all goes terribly wrong. Mick is framed for murder and someone targets Octavia's immense wealth and secret backyard greenhouse full of exotic marijuana. With no one on their side except Octavia's butler Jennings, her new personal chef Harriet, and their "Amazon Warrior" lawyer Pamela, Octavia and Mick must find a way to turn the tables before they end up broke, humiliated, and in prison.
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):
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Death Troupe by Vincent H. O'Neil is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Death Troupe by Vincent H. O'Neil as today's third 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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Death Troupe by Vincent H. O'Neil
Publisher: CreateSpace
This 2011 stand-alone — which could also serve as the first of a new series — is by the winner of the 2005 St. Martin's Press / Malice Domestic Best Traditional Mystery Novel Contest.
About Death Troupe (from the publisher): The Jerome Barron Players have a problem. Their writer, Ryan Betancourt, has killed himself under mysterious circumstances and they need a replacement right away. The Players, unofficially known as Death Troupe, come together once a year to perform a high-end murder mystery play written specifically for that season’s host town. Their writer has to possess special talents, as there’s a wager involved: If the townspeople can correctly identify the murderer before the show’s final act, they don’t have to pay for the engagement. So far, no town has ever won the bet.
Enter Jack Glynn, original writer for the Barron Players. He and Ryan wrote two Death Troupe engagements before Ryan stole Jack’s girlfriend, lead actress Allison Green. Although Jack found fame in Hollywood after quitting the troupe, eccentric director Jerome Barron convinces him to return for one show: The upcoming engagement in the Adirondack town of Schuyler Mills.
It is only then that the troupe’s advance man, private investigator Wade Parker, tells Jack of the strange events which surrounded the group’s previous engagement in Red Bend, California. A local retiree killed himself a few days after the performance—an act Wade suspects was prompted by the storyline of Ryan’s final play. He also reveals that Ryan was greatly unnerved by anonymous third parties who had interfered with the group’s marquee clue distribution.
This is one of the unique features of Death Troupe: As the performance approaches, clues are sprinkled through the town in a variety of ways, from fake headstones bearing characters’ names to real players acting out their assigned roles. In Red Bend, a stranger pretending to be a troupe member had dropped clues that were surprisingly accurate, and Ryan had reacted badly to this—perhaps badly enough to kill himself.
Events take a sinister turn shortly after Jack arrives in the small, snow-covered village of Schuyler Mills. Someone leaves a bizarre arrangement of black roses and plastic skulls in his hotel room. Ryan’s missing notebook from the Red Bend engagement turns up, and it contains an alarming tale of psychological harassment. The people of Schuyler Mills are enthusiastic about Jack’s presence, but he knows that many of them, from the local community theater group to the town mayor, could have ulterior motives.
As the weeks go by, someone begins distributing clues that Jack doesn’t recognize, from a plastic head stuck in an ice-fishing hole to confidential information scrawled on a billboard. Reading Ryan’s notebook, Jack begins to fear that the same web that snared his old writing partner in Red Bend is being spun around him in Schuyler Mills.
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):
For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.
Free Range Institution by Michael Haskins is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Free Range Institution by Michael Haskins 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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Free Range Institution by Michael Haskins
A Mick Murphy Mystery
Publisher: Five Star
This is the second mystery to feature Key West (Florida) journalist Liam Michael "Mad Mick" Murphy.
About Free Range Institution (from the publisher): Key West begins to look the the Wild West as Murphy and his ragtag team of friends gets involved with stopping a drug shipment from arriving on the island. Soon corrupt city and federal officials work with a mercenary in charge of a Colombian drug smuggling team to get Murphy at any cost. Murphy's friend, the local chief of police is looking for him too, to explain the violence that seems to continually lead back to Murphy. Murphy's black-bag friend, Norm, shows up to help and enlists some members of JIATF, a federal agency responsible for tracking drug traffickers. The climatic end begins off the Bahamian island of Cay Sal with the drug shipment arrival via a Albatross seaplane and finally ends in the fishing shacks of Stock Island, Key West's working class neighborhood.
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):
For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.
Friends on Fire by Dale Whisman is Today's Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Friends on Fire by Dale Whisman 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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Friends on Fire by Dale Whisman
A Carl Jacobs Mystery
Publisher: Deadly Niche Press
This is the third (and presumably final) book in this mystery series.
About Friends on Fire (from the publisher): Start with one private investigator who is afraid of fire, add a beautiful psychopath who gets her kicks watching people burn, toss in a former CIA agent accused of treason and top off the mix with a couple of successful but corrupt businessmen who got their start by smuggling opium out of Vietnam, and you've cooked up a deadly smorgasbord of violence and revenge enough to satisfy the most ravenous hunger for action.
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):
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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.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
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.
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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):
For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.
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