Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120525)

Here is today's list of the top bestselling free Kindle mysteries, suspense novels and thrillers.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is updated hourly, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is this week's Amazon's Instant Video Weekly Deal Vote Winner

This week's Amazon Deal Vote Kindle winner isn't a mystery — it's the "Cupcake Club" romantic novel Sugar Rush — but the instant video winner is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, available to rent this weekend only for $1.99.

Gary Oldman stars as George Smiley in this adaptation of the John le Carré bestseller. At the height of the Cold War, a precarious operation goes deadly wrong, and the head of British Intelligence wonders if a double agent is leaking vital secrets. Brought out of retirement to expose the potential mole, master spy George Smiley is the only one who can be trusted to expose one of their own. Or can he? As the emotional and physical tolls mount on the high-ranking suspects, Smiley will be forced into the ultimate international spy game where everyone's motives are in question.

We recently watched and reviewed Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and while we basically enjoyed it, we're not sure we'd buy it to add to our collection … but it's certainly worth a rental.

Use this link to see all of this weekend's Amazon Weekly Deal Vote winners. Weekly deals on all featured products end on Sunday.

PBS's Masterpiece Mystery! Summer 2012 Schedule

Now that we've all enjoyed the second season of Sherlock — we'll post our review probably sometime this weekend — we thought we'd let you know what else is on the schedule this summer for Masterpiece Mystery!

There's nothing this weekend or next, but for three weeks starting Sunday, June 10th, encore presentations of Zen will air. These originally aired last July, and consist of the following 90-minute episodes, all adapted from the novels by Michael Dibdin: "Vendetta" (June 10th), "Cabal" (June 17th), and "Ratking" (June 24th).

A week later, on July 1st, the 90-minute pilot of Endeavour airs, starring Shaun Evans as Detective Constable Endeavour Morse, a young police officer in Oxford. Based on a character created by crime novelist Colin Dexter, this prequel has since received a first season commission by ITV for four new episodes.

The fifth season of Inspector Lewis, a spin-off of Inspector Morse, premieres on July 8th. Four 90-minute episodes will air: "The Soul of Genius" (July 8th), "Generation of Vipers" (July 15th), "Fearful Symmetry" (July 22nd), and "The Indelible Stain" (July 29th).

After taking a break for August, the third season of Wallander premieres in September with three new 90-minute mysteries based on a character created by Henning Mankell. First up is "An Event in Autumn" (September 9th), followed by "The Dogs of Riga" (September 16th), and "Before the Frost" (September 23rd). All are adaptations of novels in the series, though Before the Frost is widely considered to be a "Linda Wallander" mystery, featuring the police officer daughter of Kurt Wallander.

New Hardcover Mysteries for June 2012

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books has updated its list of new hardcover mysteries with books scheduled for publication in June 2012. Please note that some titles June publish early, and June already be available, and some June be delayed, published at a later date.

Below we're listing those authors with returning series characters, new series characters, and non-series or stand-alone mysteries in separate sections. All titles are available on our June new mystery books page, which will become the default home page for the site on June 1st.

• Authors with mysteries featuring returning series characters (in italics) this month:

Roberto Ampuero (Cayetano Brulé, 6th) —  Aileen Baron (Tamar Saticoy, 2nd) —  Mark Billingham (Tom Thorne, 9th) —  Alafair Burke (Ellie Hatcher, 4th) —  Linda Castillo (Kate Burkholder, 4th) —  Marilyn J. Clay ("Jamestown", 2nd) —  Darwyn Cooke (Parker Graphic, 3rd) —  Colin Cotterill (Jimm Muree, 2nd) —  Jeffery Deaver (Kathryn Dance, 3rd) —  Robert Dugoni (David Sloane, 5th) —  Gerald Elias (Daniel Jacobus, 4th) —  David Ellis (Jason Kolarich, 3rd) —  Loren D. Estleman (Amos Walker, 22nd) —  Janet Evanovich (Lizzy Tucker and Diesel, 2nd) —  Conor Fitzgerald (Alec Blume, 3rd) —  Brian Freemantle (Charlie Muffin, 15th) —  Alan Furst (Night Soldiers, 12th) —  Lee Goldberg (Mr. Monk, 14th) —  Bryan Gruley (Gus Carpenter, 3rd) —  Carolyn Haines (Sarah Booth Delaney, Southern Belle, 12th) —  Charlaine Harris (Aurora Teagarden, 6th) —  David Housewright (Rushmore McKenzie, 8th) —  Dorothy Howell (Haley Randolph, 5th) —  Quintin Jardine (Bob Skinner, 22nd) —  Roderic Jeffries (Inspector Alvarez, 36th) —  Chris Knopf (Jackie Swaitowski, 3rd) —  Sophie Littlefield (Stella Hardesty, 4th) —  Peter Lovesey (Peter Diamond, 12th) —  Eric Van Lustbader (Jason Bourne, 10th) —  Jeanne Matthews (Dinah Pelerin, 3rd) —  John McEvoy (Jack Doyle, 4th) —  Amy Myers (Jack Colby, 2nd) —  Caro Peacock (Liberty Lane, 5th) —  Sheldon Russell (Hook Runyon, 3rd) —  Maggie Sefton (Kelly Flynn, Knitting, 11th) —  Jeffrey Siger (Andreas Kaldis, 4th) —  Frank Smith (Neil Paget, 9th) —  Elizabeth Speller (Laurence Bartram, 2nd) —  Marcia Talley (Hannah Ives, 11th) —  Robert K. Tanenbaum (Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi, 24th) —  Charles Todd (Bess Crawford, 4th) —  Peter Turnbull (Hennessey and Yellich, 22nd)

• Authors with mysteries introducing characters (in italics) in a new series this month:

Lincoln Child (Jeremy Logan) —  Gerald Jay (Paul Mazarelle) —  Mons Kallentoft (Malin Fors) —  Andrea Kane ("Forensic Instincts") —  Al Lamanda (John Bekker) —  Don Mann and Ralph Pezzull ("Seal Team Six")

• Authors with non-series or stand-alone mysteries this month:

Ann Bauer —  Louise Black —  S. J. Bolton —  Chase Brandon —  James Conway —  Lindsey Davis —  Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee —  Glen Ebisch —  Bill Evans —  Zoë Ferraris —  Gillian Flynn —  Sara Foster —  John Gapper —  Robert Goolrick —  Elizabeth Haynes —  Daniel Kalla —  John Katzenbach —  Lisa King —  Harriet Lane —  G. M. Lawrence —  Gail Lukasik —  Alix Ohlin —  Ridley Pearson —  Tom Piccirilli —  Kitty Pilgrim —  Matthew Quirk —  Linda Regan —  Luanne Rice —  Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya —  Justin Scott —  Carsten Stroud —  Simon Toyne —  Lisa Unger —  Charlotte Vale-Allen —  Daniel H. Wilson —  Don Winslow —  Benjamin Wood —  Tom Wright —  Jean Zimmerman

For more information on any of these titles, please visit the June new mysteries page on our website. If you're interested in new paperbacks, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where you can discover a library of new mystery, suspense and thriller books, also updated with June 2012 releases.

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.

Incinerator by Timothy Hallinan is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Incinerator by Timothy Hallinan 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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Incinerator by Timothy Hallinan
A Simeon Grist Mystery
Publisher: William Morrow/Hallinan Consulting

This is the fourth mystery to feature the Los Angeles private investigator.

About Incinerator (from the publisher): Grist comes up against his most terrifying adversary yet, a madman who's setting fire to the homeless. As Simeon is drawn into the case – very much against his will – he realizes that the Incinerator has a huge advantage. Somewhere, years ago, the two of them met, and the Incinerator has been nursing hatred and resentment for years. Now, as helpless people burst into flame on Skid Row, Simeon has to scour the wastelands of Los Angeles, and his own past, looking for the face of a killer.

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 Kindle Edition Download Link.

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

The Frenzy Way by Gregory Lamberson is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Frenzy Way by Gregory Lamberson 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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The Frenzy Way by Gregory Lamberson
The Frenzy Cycle
Publisher: Medallion Press

About The Frenzy Way (from the publisher): When raped and dismembered corpses start to appear throughout New York City, the investigation draws police captain Mace into a plot that plays like a horror movie. Taking the lead role in this chilling story may be the challenge of his career, testing his skills and his stamina, but even a superhero would find the series of terrifying crimes daunting. Unlike anything Mace has experienced, every blood-spattered scene is filled with body parts and partially eaten human remains and in the wake of each attack is the haunting premonition of another murdering onslaught. As Mace follows this crimson trail of madness, he must accept the inevitable conclusion: whomever or whatever is responsible for this terror does not intend to stop, and it’s up to him to put an end to the chaotic reign of a perpetrator whom, until now, he’s met only in the annals of mythology. Unfortunately, the mere mention of the word—werewolf—would send New Yorkers into a panic.

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 Kindle Edition Download Link.

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

Mystery Bestsellers for the Week Ending May 25, 2012

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending May 25th, 2012 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

For the third week in a row, the 12th "Southern Vampire" mystery Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris retains the top spot.

No new titles debut … though one that was just off the list last week moves into the top 15 this week.

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Moving up two spots to number 14 is the 8th Walt Longmire mystery, As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson.

Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire has a more important matter on his mind than cowboys and criminals. His daughter, Cady, is getting married to the brother of his undersheriff, Victoria Moretti. Walt and old friend Henry Standing Bear are the de facto wedding planners and fear Cady’s wrath when the wedding locale arrangements go up in smoke two weeks before the big event.

The pair set out to find a new site for the nuptials on the Cheyenne Reservation, but their scouting expedition ends in horror as they witness a young Crow woman plummeting from Painted Warrior’s majestic cliffs. It’s not Walt’s turf, but the newly appointed tribal police chief and Iraqi war veteran, the beautiful Lolo Long, shanghais him into helping with the investigation. Walt is stretched thin as he mentors Lolo, attempts to catch the bad guys, and performs the role of father of the bride.

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.

Character Posters for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part Two

Three new character posters have been released for the fifth and final film in the "Twight Saga" series of adaptations, Breaking Dawn Part Two (below; click for larger versions). All have the tagline "Forever".

The film, directed by Bill Condon from a screenplay written by Melissa Rosenberg, opens in theaters November 16th, 2012.

Review: As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson

We've just published our Review of As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson. A Walt Longmire Mystery. Viking Hardcover, May 2012.

Our rating:

Available to purchase from …

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120524)

Here is today's list of the top bestselling free Kindle mysteries, suspense novels and thrillers.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is updated hourly, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

White Heat by Paul D. Marks is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature White Heat by Paul D. Marks 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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White Heat by Paul D. Marks
A Duke Rogers / Jack Riggs Mystery
Publisher: Timeless Skies Publishing

Paul D. Marks will be our guest blogger next Wednesday, May 30th!

About White Heat (from the publisher): P.I. Duke Rogers finds himself in a racially charged situation. The case might have to wait … The immediate problem: getting out of South Central Los Angeles in one piece during the 1992 Rodney King riots and that's just the beginning of his problems.

Private investigator Duke Rogers finds an old "friend" for a client. The client's "friend," an up and coming black actress, ends up dead. Duke knows his client did it. Now, feeling guilty, he wants to find the client/killer. He starts his mission by going to the dead actress' family in South Central L.A. — and while there the Rodney King riots ignite.

And while he tries to track down the killer he must also deal with the racism of his partner, Jack, and from the dead woman's brother, Warren. He must also confront his own possible latent racism — even as he's in an interracial relationship with the murder victim's dead woman's sister.

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 Kindle Edition Download Link.

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

Enter to Win an Inspector Montalbano Gift Basket from Penguin Books

The Age of Doubt, the 14th book in Andrea Camilleri's "Inspector Montalbano" mystery series, is being published next week and to celebrate, Penguin Books is holding a giveaway … and a pretty amazing one at that.

One winner will receive the Grand Prize of an Inspector Montalbano Gift Basket that includes a variety of Italian foods such as pasta, sauce, olives, Italian desserts, roasted red peppers, olive oil, and cheese, along with all 14 novels in the Inspector Montalbano series. (See a photo of the Grand Prize at the bottom of this page.) Four second place winners will receive all 14 books in the series.

Visit the site's Facebook page to enter. (You will be asked to grant permission to the app to access your Facebook information.) The entry deadline is Tuesday, June 5th, 2012.

Separate from this, Penguin Books is also allowing us to give away a copy of The Age of Doubt to one of our readers. To enter our giveaway, visit Mystery Book Contests and click on the Andrea Camilleri: The Age of Doubt link, enter your name and e-mail address and this code, 8209, for a chance to win. One entry per person; our entry deadline is also Tuesday, June 5th, 2012.

About The Age of Doubt: The day after a storm, Inspector Montalbano encounters a strange woman who expresses interest in a certain yacht scheduled to dock that afternoon. Not long after she's gone, the yacht's crew reports finding a disfigured corpse. Also at anchor is a luxury vessel with a somewhat shady crew. Both boats will have to stay in Vigàta until the investigation is over and, based on information from the woman, Montalbano begins to think the occupants of the yacht might know more about the man's death than they're letting on.

Please Welcome Novelist Kfir Luzzatto

We are delighted to welcome Kfir Luzzatto as our guest blogger today.

Kfir's most recent novel is the thriller The Evelyn Project (Pine Ten, April 2012 trade paperback and ebook editions), which was inspired in part by his in-depth research into the family archives.

Today Kfir writes about "Donating Virtual Life with The Evelyn Project". And he's also offering one of our readers a chance to win a free ecopy of his book simply by joining his mailing list; see more details below.

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I am always taken by surprise when a story line somehow finds its way into my consciousness and, once settled there, demands to be written. Then I'm stuck with it, whether I like it or not. And, unfortunately, those story ideas don't come equipped with a well thought-out plot; instead, you get this rather fuzzy but nagging image that won't go away until the story is fully developed. This is what happened to me with The Evelyn Project.

Photo provided courtesy of
Kfir Luzzatto

Evelyn (or, rather Evelina, as she was named in my native Italy) was my great aunt. She died of tuberculosis in 1894. She was only 26 years old. My great-grandfather was an influential politician who left no stone unturned to try to save his daughter and got her the best medical care that was available at the turn-of-the-century, among which praying was probably the most effective measure.

Evelyn's studio portrait, which I used in the book cover, hangs on the wall beside my writing desk. My second daughter, Lilach, is her living image and her 26th birthday is approaching fast. That might have been a catalyst for me to write the book, although the sad story of Evelyn's death was always a part of my family's ethos; I must've sucked it in with my milk because I can't remember the first time her name was mentioned. When my parents died I was left with the responsibility to make sure that my family history would not be forgotten. That entailed a lot of reading in books, documents and letters, which brought Evelyn's figure increasingly to life for me. I learned of her warm relation with her father through letters she had written to him, and I discovered more than I already knew about my great-grandfather's devotion to her.

Throughout my reading and learning one persistent thought kept popping up in my head: today her death would have been an unnecessary tragedy; with readily-available antibiotics an otherwise healthy young woman would not have succumbed to her illness. So what if it was possible to go back in time and save her using medical technology commonly available today? It is probable that saving Evelyn's life would not have changed the course of history (contrary to what many science fiction books would predict), but even if it did, preventing her father's private hell would have been well worth the price.

Having got emotionally involved in her story I realized that I had to do more than just sit there and shake my head in sorrow. I couldn't just let Evelyn fade away in those yellowing papers. I had to do right by her (whatever that meant). My investigation of Evelyn's misfortune allowed me to put myself in my great-grandfather's shoes, to feel the emotions that he must have felt (he was approximately my age when Evelyn died) and to test the length to which a father would go in an attempt, no matter how futile, to save his child.

Overall, writing this book turned out to be an exceptionally emotional journey for me. Sometimes I felt ashamed that I was enjoying writing it. Instead of dishing out a uniformly gloomy piece I was writing a fast-paced thriller that, beside the suspense, also has its hilarious moments.

This is not the first time that inspiration has come to me like an assignment from above without any real control from my side. I have learned not to fight the impulse and, instead, to embrace it and to allow myself to be taken on an emotional roller coaster ride without a clear vision of where the journey is likely to end.

I don't believe in stereotyping ghosts, so I won't say that I recognize Evelyn's hand or my great-grandfather's stick behind my urge to write the story. It is true, however, that now I feel much closer to them than I did before; they have assumed characters and a presence so real that at times it feels as if we had actually met. I often wondered whether they would have grudged me the use I made of their characters in a commercial book, but something tells me that if they can see us they understand that this is my way to give Evelyn some of the life she has been denied, even if only on paper.

But this is not only about Evelyn. My great-grandfather was no less of a victim to her disease than she was. The Evelyn Project is my tribute to them both.

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Photo provided courtesy of
Kfir Luzzatto

Kfir Luzzatto was born and raised in Italy, and moved to Israel as a teenager. He acquired the love for the English language from his father, a former U.S. soldier, a voracious reader and a prolific writer. Kfir has a PhD in chemical engineering and works as a patent attorney.

He lives in Omer, Israel, with his full-time partner, Esther, their four children, Michal, Lilach, Tamar and Yonatan, and the dog Elvis.

For more information about Kfir and his books, please visit his website at KfirLuzzatto.com.

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About The Evelyn Project:

A loving father's cry for help gets into the wrong hands, and a hundred years later things get out of control.

Evelyn's father did everything in his power to save his dying daughter, black magic included. But when a century later his plea for help gets into the wrong hands, all hell breaks loose. Caught in the slippery battlefield between the Vatican and a cult that wants to change the past, a young Italian professor and a beautiful French aspiring actress are too busy running away from murder and conspiracy to let physical attraction develop into love. And it doesn't help that the Her Majesty's Secret Service decides to take an interest in what everybody else is doing and to pull some strings of its own.

Quite the contrary, in fact …

Readers who join the author's mailing list in the next 10 days — before June 4th, 2012 — will be entered in a drawing for a free ecopy of The Evelyn Project. Join using this link (on the author's website).

The Deep Blue Alibi by Paul Levine is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Deep Blue Alibi by Paul Levine 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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The Deep Blue Alibi by Paul Levine
A Solomon vs. Lord Legal Thriller
Publisher: Bantam/Nittany Valley

This is the second mystery to feature the Coral Gables blueblood, Victoria Lord, who plays by the rules, and Coconut Grove beach bum, Steve Solomon, who makes up his own.

About The Deep Blue Alibi (from the publisher): The action starts when a boat runs aground in the Florida Keys. Aboard are a thousand hundred-dollar bills and two men, one shot by a speargun. The other man is Victoria’s "Uncle Grif", who desperately needs a lawyer … or two. But Grif, charged with murder, is a lawyer’s worst nightmare, a client who keeps secrets. Just what is he planning in the Florida Keys and why would he kill an investigator for the Environmental Protection Agency?

The tale roams from the streets of Miami to a waterfront nudist colony to a Key West courtroom with Solomon and Lord – squabblers extraordinaire – fighting all the way. Will they succeed in defending Grif? Will they learn the truth? And will they end the case as partners and lovers or enemies and litigants?

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 Kindle Edition Download Link.

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

International Trailer for Total Recall

Last month we posted what we called the first international trailer for Total Recall. We always try to link to uploads made by the studio, but since that video has since been deleted we can't be sure if it is the same as the one released by Sony Pictures today.

Anyway, we'll repeat the information we provided in that previous post here … together with the new (?) trailer from Sony (embedded below).

Inspired anew by the famous short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick, the film welcomes you to Rekall, the company that can turn your dreams into real memories. For a factory worker named Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), even though he's got a beautiful wife (Kate Beckinsale) who he loves, the mind-trip sounds like the perfect vacation from his frustrating life — real memories of life as a super-spy might be just what he needs. But when the procedure goes horribly wrong, Quaid becomes a hunted man. Finding himself on the run from the police — controlled by Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston), the leader of the free world — Quaid teams up with a rebel fighter (Jessica Biel) to find the head of the underground resistance (Bill Nighy) and stop Cohaagen. The line between fantasy and reality gets blurred and the fate of his world hangs in the balance as Quaid discovers his true identity, his true love, and his true fate.

Directed by Len Wiseman from a screenplay by Mark Bomback, James Vanderbilt, and Kurt Wimmer, Total Recall opens in theaters August 3rd, 2012.