Telemystery: Your Fall 2012 Schedule for Thursday, September 27th

Here is your Telemystery Fall 2012 Schedule for Thursday, September 27th, 2012 (all times are ET/PT) …

At 8 PM on ABC is the new thriller Last Resort. In the opening episode, "Captain", five hundred feet beneath the ocean's surface, the crew of the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine "USS Colorado" — the most powerful nuclear submarine ever built — receive their orders. Over a communications channel designed only to be used if the U.S. homeland has been wiped out, they're told to fire nuclear weapons at a foreign country. Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) demands confirmation of the orders, only to be unceremoniously relieved of duty. XO Sam Kendal (Scott Speedman) finds himself suddenly in charge of the submarine and facing the same difficult decision. When he also demands confirmation of the orders, the Colorado is fired upon and hit. The submarine and its crew, honorable patriots, now find themselves crippled on the ocean floor and declared rogue enemies of their own country.

ABC made the pilot available to view in its entirety online a few weeks ago, and we did watch it, for the most part enjoying it. There are a lot of similarities to the film Crimson Tide, at least in this episode, though the last scenes take the storyline in a very different direction from how the film ended.

At 9 PM on CBS, the second season of Person of Interest premieres with the episode "The Contingency". With Finch missing — kidnapped by his hacker nemesis, Root — Reese enlists Detectives Carter and Fusco to get his friend back.

Finally, at 10 PM on CBS is the premiere of the new series Elementary. The pilot episode introduces Jonny Lee Miller as a contemporary Sherlock Holmes, who, along with his sober companion Dr. Joan Watson (Lucy Liu), uses his uncanny ability to read people and analyze crimes to assist the NYPD on some of their more difficult cases. Tonight, Holmes consults on a home invasion that resulted in murder. Aiden Quinn stars as Holmes's NYPD connection, Captain Toby Gregson.

Cinemystery: Warner Bros. Options Linwood Barclay's Trust Your Eyes

Warner Bros. has optioned for film the stand-alone thriller Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay, which was just published earlier this month. Todd Phillips (The Hangover, Starsky & Hutch) is set to direct, and co-executive produce with Dan Lin (Sherlock Holmes, Gangster Squad). Variety reported on the deal, but made no mention of a screenwriter.

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Trust Your Eyes
Linwood Barclay

Thomas Kilbride is a map-obsessed schizophrenic so affected that he rarely leaves the self-imposed bastion of his bedroom. But with a computer program called Whirl360.com, he travels the world while never so much as stepping out the door. He pores over and memorizes the streets of the world. He examines every address, as well as the people who are frozen in time on his computer screen.

Then he sees something that anyone else might have stumbled upon—but has not—in a street view of downtown New York City: an image in a window. An image that looks like a woman being murdered.

Thomas's brother, Ray, takes care of him, cooking for him, dealing with the outside world on his behalf, and listening to his intricate and increasingly paranoid theories. When Thomas tells Ray what he has seen, Ray humors him with a half-hearted investigation. But Ray soon realizes he and his brother have stumbled onto a deadly conspiracy.

And now they are in the crosshairs …

      

This Week's Bestselling Mystery and Suspense Television and Film on DVD (120926)

Here is this week's list of the top bestselling mystery and suspense television and film on DVD available from Amazon.com.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is frequently updated, 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.

MystereBooks: The Stoney Winston Mysteries by Jim Stinson, Free to Download

About a month ago, we featured Jim Stinson's first Stoney Winston mystery as our free ebook of the day.

What we didn't realize at the time is that the author had actually made available all four books in the series free to download from iTunes, Kobo, and Smashwords. (They're not available on Amazon.com, though you can get a Kindle compatible .mobi version through Smashwords.)

We're going to remedy that right now, by featuring all four titles in this post. But, as we always caution you, 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.

We read the four books in the series when they were first published (between 1986 and 1991) and are looking forward to revisiting them again!

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Double Exposure
Jim Stinson
A Stoney Winston Mystery
Publisher: Jim Stinson

First published in 1986 in hardcover by Scribner, this is the first mystery in this series.

Ah, the romantic 1980s! No Internet, Facebook, or Twitter. Telephones tied to the wall. Music on vinyl or flimsy cassettes — and don't even start on the fashions! Hollywood wandered in the desert between the lush studio days that were gone and our flush modern times full of cable and Netflix. Work for film people was scarce in those days and Stoney Winston just barely scraped by. If the 1980s were romantic, Stoney was far too busy surviving to notice …

Desperate for cash, Stoney takes a job tracking a missing daughter whose porno screen test is being used to blackmail the owner of a tiny, failing studio. When he finds the girl murdered, the bad guys responsible start hunting him down, with a similar plan for Stoney. Pursuing his quest (and saving his hide) Stoney tangles with a randy TV evangelist, hired thugs, two lethal fires, and a cold midnight swim off a boat taking him out to sea on a one-way trip with a heavy anchor. All the while, three women offer him aid and comfort, though only one is his live-in lady. In the end, Stoney delivers a rough and ready justice, but all he gets in return is a totaled car. He keeps his lady, though, and that's more important to him.

      

— ♦ —

Low Angles
Jim Stinson
A Stoney Winston Mystery
Publisher: Jim Stinson

First published in 1986 in hardcover by Scribner, this is the second mystery in this series.

Against his better judgment, Hollywood foot soldier Stoney Winston arrives at a flea-bitten desert Hamlet to help Diane LaMotta direct her first feature, a no-budget indie action potboiler titled Cycles from Hell. The director's hostile, the cameraman's drunk, the crew's rebellious, and the real bikers playing most of the parts perform as bad as they smell. Diane and a biker momma start fighting over Stoney, while the production's being slowly killed by systematic sabotage that turns into stabbing, near-drowning, and violent death.

Stoney's only weapons are his courage, his movie smarts, and his friend, Scuzzy. Courtly Nathaniel Hawthorne ("Scuzzy") Fenster supports his Talmudic scholarship by playing heavies in biker films. Since he stands six-six, weighs 300 pounds, and sprouts hair in all directions, the very sight of him would make Attila wet his pants. He works a lot.

      

— ♦ —

Truck Shot
Jim Stinson
A Stoney Winston Mystery
Publisher: Jim Stinson

First published in 1989 in hardcover by Scribner, this is the third mystery in this series.

Stoney Winston is teaching a film workshop at low-rent Angeles Commercial Design College when the college president is literally blown away. To pry loose the insurance transfusion needed to keep the dying college alive, Stoney has to prove it wasn't suicide. Stoney follows the murderer's trail into a labyrinth of embezzlements, real estate hustles, and suspicious moves by a mysterious multinational company. Before he emerges, he has to fight fires, foil attempts on his life and fly like a bird. Through all this, he has to help his class finish their pretentious student film, which involves a woman and a goldfish, both of them symbolic, naked, and pregnant.

Meanwhile, his prettiest student wants him in bed, his friend Tina, the new college president, leans on him for help and maybe more, and a surprise from his past adds romantic complications. In the end, Stoney's glad to retreat to the routine madness of Hollywood and resume his eternal struggle to rise above the bottom level of the Industry food chain.

      

— ♦ —

TV Safe
Jim Stinson
A Stoney Winston Mystery
Publisher: Jim Stinson

First published in 1991 in hardcover by Scribner, this is the fourth mystery in this series.

Big bucks incite big greed, and the quiz show Oh-Pun Sesame! Offers a $1 million prize that people will kill for. Vulnerable celebrities like show star Kelli Dengham hide career-destroying secrets. And a low-caste program staffer named Stoney Winston has to stop the murders and protect the beautiful airhead star. A perennial Hollywood foot soldier, Stoney's equipped to navigate the backwater swamps of late '80s Hollywood, where he uncovers a psychotic fan writing eerie mash notes telling Kelli the fun sadistic things he'll do to her, plus two murders linked to the show and slides stolen from Kelli's nude photo session that could kill far more than just her career. Once again, Stoney has to rely on his movie smarts, inherent decency, and wry sense of humor to get him through all this with his sanity – and maybe his very life – intact.

      

— ♦ —

Important Note: These books were 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.

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

Mysterious Press Releases Gourmet Detective Mysteries by Peter King in eBook Format

Mysterious Press released all eight books in the "Gourmet Detective" series by Peter King this week in ebook format.

King, a Cordon Bleu — trained chef himself, introduced the character in 1991 in The Gourmet Detective, a cozy mystery about a chef turned sleuth who solves mysteries in the kitchen. He's never given a name in the series.

King has also written three books featuring author and adventurer Jack London as an amateur sleuth.

We're providing a list of all eight newly released "Gourmet Detective" titles below, with a synopsis from the first in the series.

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The Gourmet Detective
Peter King
A Gourmet Detective Mystery (1st in series)

They call him the gourmet detective; the only thing sharper than his mind is his palate. When chefs need a rare ingredient, an ancient wine, or simply a new idea to gain that extra Michelin-star boost, they come to the detective's cozy London office and plead for his help. For top-notch cooking, he is always happy to lend his taste buds to the cause.

Now Raymond Lefebvre, executive chef at one of London's finest French restaurants, has asked for the detective's help with a bit of kitchen espionage. Lefebvre's crosstown rival is winning international accolades cooking a dish called Oiseau Royal, and Lefebvre wants the recipe. Getting it takes the detective deep into the Circle of Careme, where the most elite chefs in Britain gather to swap recipes, techniques, and gossip. But when the chefs of Careme start to die, the detective starts to salivate. There is no finer appetizer than murder.

      

(2nd) Spiced to Death — Amazon | iTunes | Kobo

(3rd) Dying on the Vine — Amazon | iTunes | Kobo

(4th) Death Al Dente — Amazon | iTunes | Kobo

(5th) A Healthy Place To Die — Amazon | iTunes | Kobo

(6th) Eat, Drink, and Be Buried — Amazon | iTunes | Kobo

(7th) Roux the Day — Amazon | iTunes | Kobo

(8th) Dine and Die on the Danube Express — Amazon | iTunes | Kobo

Looper Opens in Theaters Friday, September 28th

Looper. Opens in theaters September 28, 2012.

In the year 2042, time travel exists, but it is illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they send their target 30 years into the past, where a "looper" — a hired gun, like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — is waiting to mop up. Joe is doing good as a looper until the day the mob decides to "close the loop", sending back Joe's future self (Bruce Willis) for assassination.

Written and directed by Rian Johnson.

Running time: 118 minutes. Rated R for strong violence, language, some sexuality/nudity and drug use.

Watch a trailer for the film below:

Telemystery: BBC America to Air The Secret of Crickley Hall

BBC America announced today that the bone-chilling haunted house thriller The Secret of Crickley Hall will air on the cable network on Sunday, October 28th at 8 PM (ET/PT).

Adapted from the novel of the same title by James Herbert, the thriller begins a year after the disappearance of Cam, the son of Gabe Caliegh (Tom Ellis) and Eve Caleigh (Suranne Jones). As the couple and their two daughters attempt to start anew, they head to Crickley Hall — a seemingly perfect countryside house. But when cellar doors start to open on their own, phantom children's cries are heard through the night and a frenzied cane-wielding specter rears its head — the Caleigh's realize the house comes with a lot more than they bargained for. Just as they're ready to move out, Eve Caleigh hears Cam's cries and all bets are off.

Shifting between 1943 and present day, the Caleigh's are desperate to find the source of the crying and the connection the haunted house has to their son. Will they find him before the evil that stalks Crickley Hall finds their other children?

Written and directed by Joe Ahearne, this classic haunted house spine chiller is full of scares, yet underpinned by the heartbreaking story of a family needing to heal and ghosts who need to be laid to rest. Watch a trailer for the three-hour made-for-television movie below.

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— ♦ —

The Secret of Crickley Hall
James Herbert

Would you stay in a haunted house for more than one night?

Would you live in a place where ghostly things keep happening? Where a cellar door you know you locked the night before is always open the following morning? Where hushed whimpering is heard? Where white shadows steal through the darkness? Where the presence of evil is all around you?

Would you? Should you?

The Caleighs did, but they had their reasons. They should have known better though. As the terror mounts, they begin to regret their decision. As the horror rises, they realize their very lives are at risk … and so is their sanity. For the secret of Crickley Hall is beyond all nightmares.

      

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120926)

Here is today's list of the Bestselling Free Kindle Crime Fiction: the top nine mysteries, novels of suspense, 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 click on the image to the right or use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

Review: Face of the Enemy by Joanne Dobson and Beverle Graves Myers

A Mysterious Review of …

Face of the Enemy by Joanne Dobson and Beverle Graves Myers. A New York in Wartime Mystery.

Review summary: This is a riveting mystery set during the early weeks of America's involvement in World War II, with a Japanese woman accused of murder. The supporting cast of characters is impressive as is the richly drawn setting, all conveying a sense of what it was like to live in New York City at this historic time for the country. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Face of the Enemy
Joanne Dobson and Beverle Graves Myers
A New York in Wartime Mystery
Poisoned Pen Press (September 2012)

Publisher synopsis: December, 1941: With New Yorkers painfully aware of their vulnerability after the Pearl Harbor attack, the FBI prowls the city snatching up Japanese residents. Tension increases for a sensitive Japanese artist when she’s accused of murder as well as espionage. Is Masako Fumi guilty? Or a victim of racial paranoia? Nurse Louise Hunter is outraged and vows to help her friend.

When the murdered body of Masako’s art dealer is discovered in the gallery where he’d been closing down her controversial show, Masako’s troubles multiply. Homicide detective Michael McKenna doubts her guilt, but an ambitious G-man schemes to lever the homicide and ensuing espionage accusations into a political cause célèbre.

Struggling to focus on one man’s murder while America plunges into a worldwide war, Louise and McKenna defy both racism and ham-fisted government agents in order to expose the real killer.

    

First Clues, Mysteries for Kids: New Titles for October 2012

First Clues: Mysteries for Kids is pleased to announce a selection of new mystery, suspense and thriller books (including series books) scheduled for publication during October 2012, listed in approximate order of reading level, from books for younger readers to books for teens.

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A Rockin' Mystery
Franklin W. Dixon
The Hardy Boys: Secret Files

This series, featuring The Hardy Boys as pre-teens, is recommended for readers aged 7 to 9.

Frank and Joe are thrilled to learn that the popular band, Crush, is scheduled to perform in Bayport's huge Battle of the Bands — and even more excited when they find out that their friend's brother, Dylan, is the bass guitarist. But on the day of the performance, Dylan's prized guitar has gone missing!

Could someone from a rival band have taken it in hopes of gaining an advantage? Or could the culprit be someone closer to home? It's up to Frank and Joe to investigate this rocking mystery — or else Crush might be crushed in the competition!

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Who Could That Be At This Hour?
Lemony Snicket

This first of the "All the Wrong Questions" books is recommended for readers aged 7 to 9.

In a fading town, far from anyone he knew or trusted, a young Lemony Snicket began his apprenticeship in an organization nobody knows about. He started by asking questions that shouldn't have been on his mind. Now he has written an account that should not be published, in four volumes that shouldn't be read.

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The Journey to Atlantis
Thea Stilton
Geronimo Stilton

This entry in the long-running series is recommended for readers aged 7 to 9.

At the beach by Mouseford Academy, one of the Thea Sisters discovers a mysterious boy with blue skin washed up on the shore. He speaks an unfamiliar language, so the Thea Sisters call Thea Stilton to help figure out how to communicate with him. She sets the mouselings on an exciting journey across the world to hunt for clues about the boy's origins. Could he be prince of the underwater world of Atlantis? It's up to the Thea Sisters to get him home!

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Behind the Bookcase
Mark Steensland

This stand-alone mystery is recommended fo readers aged 7 to 9.

Spending the summer at her grandmother's house is the last thing Sarah wants to do — especially now that Grandma Winnie has died — but she has no choice. Her parents have to fix the place up before they can sell it, and Sarah and her brother, Billy, have to help. But the tedious work turns into a thrilling mystery when Sarah discovers an unfinished letter her grandmother wrote: Strange things are happening behind the bookcase …

Sarah's mother dismisses the letter as one of Grandma Winnie's crazy stories, but Sarah does some investigating and makes a remarkable discovery: behind the bookcase is a doorway into Scotopia, the land where shadows come from. With a talking cat named Balthazat as her guide, Sarah begins an unforgettable adventure into a world filled with countless dangers. Who can she trust? And can she face her fears, not only in Scotopia, but also back at Grandma Winnie's house, where more secrets and strange goings-on await her?

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Danger Goes Berserk
Mac Barnett
Brixton Brothers

This fourth entry in the series is recommended for readers aged 10 to 12. (Lexile measure: 620L.)

It's a routine case …

… or at least as routine as a cases get when you're a twelve-year-old private detective who's been sleuthing for just a few months: Steve Brixton must don a neon wetsuit and work undercover to retrieve a stolen surfboard.

But when the assignment goes all wrong, Steve finds himself caught inside mysteries involving wild surfers, pirate smugglers, thick-necked goons, and a sixth-grader who can't find his gym shorts.

— ♦ —

The Secret Cellar
Michael D. Beil
Red Blazer Girls

This fourth entry in this series is recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.

Mysteries seem to find the Red Blazer Girls: when Sophie finds a secret message in the antique fountain pen she bought for her father, the girls are on a case. Soon, they're at the home of the pen's original owner, a secretive man who kept to himself. His house is full of puzzles, all of which protect a hidden treasure, and the Blazers will do anything to get to the bottom of things. Throw in an ill-tempered bookstore owner with a motive, a missing will, a walking stick that doubles as a key, a school Christmas play, and a rat named Humphrey, and it all adds up to another thrilling adventure for the Red Blazer Girls.

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Pineapples in Peril
Cheryl Linn Martin
Hawaiian Island Detective Club

This first in a new series is recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.

Thirteen-year-old Leilani Akamai and her friends, Maile and Sam, are the only official members of The Hawaiian Island Detective Club. Leilani pictures a summer full of secrets and stakeouts as she and her friends aim to solve their first real crime, a case of pineapple vandalism at Tong Plantation. It's all Leilani has to look forward to now that her younger brother, Kimo, has already ruined her summer. Thanks to him, surfing is out and she blames him for her broken arm, now in a clunky, itchy cast. To top things off, Kimo might interfere with the pineapple case and blow their entire investigation! The ugliness continues when Leilani's beloved surfboard ends up in the hands of her dreaded enemy. Can she get her board back and solve the first case of the Hawaiian Island Detective Club? This summer will be one to remember.

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The Tokyo Treasure
Kevin Sylvester
Neil Flambe

Another fourth in series, this mystery is recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.

World-class chef Neil Flambé isn't thrilled when his cousin Larry moves to Japan to work on an online manga comic book. Now who'll help him in the kitchen? But he finds a replacement in Gary the bike courier, and life, and the restaurant, moves on without Larry. That is, until the news that life may have really left Larry behind — he's been lost at sea.

Neil is devastated. But then he checks Larry's online manga. There's a subtle change in the plot, something Neil and Larry had discussed — something only Neil would notice. Is this a cryptic message from beyond the grave — or is Larry still alive? Determined to find out, Neil heads to Japan to solve his next mystery.

— ♦ —

The Labyrinth of Lies
Jordan Jacobs

This stand-alone, which may also be the first in a series, is recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.

There's nothing Samantha Sutton wants more than to become an adventure-seeking archaeologist like her brilliant Uncle Jay. Samantha's big dreams are finally coming true when Jay invites her along on a summer excavation of an ancient temple in the Peruvian Andes.

But this adventure isn't exactly what she thought it would be with her nosy older brother, Evan, and Jay's colleagues monitoring her every move. And she has to deal with the local legend, EI Loco: a ghostly madman who supposedly haunts the ruins. But when the project's most important finds go missing, it's up to Samantha to solve the mystery before the treasures of the temple are lost forever.

— ♦ —

The Quick Fix
Jack D. Ferraiolo
Matt Stevens

This sequel to The Big Splash is recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.

When the star of the basketball team is blackmailed, it's up to Matt, the lone voice for justice in a morass of middle school corruption, to figure out who's behind the scheme. Is it eighth-grade crime lord Vinny “Mr. Biggs” Biggio, who has made his name peddling forged hall passes and leading a crew of social assassins who send enemies to the Outs with a humiliating squirt-gun blast below the belt? Or is it his lieutenant and Matt's former best friend, Kevin? Or a pair of scheming twins who sell Pixy Stix to sugar-addicted classmates? One thing's for sure: There won't be a quick fix for the trouble at this middle school.

— ♦ —

Becoming Holmes
Shane Peacock
Boy Sherlock Holmes

The final book in this award-winning series is recommended for readers aged 13 and older.

The surprising and shocking conclusion to the Boy Sherlock Holmes series. (No further synopsis available from the publisher.)

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First Clues: Mysteries for Kids is your source for information on over 200 mystery series for children and young adults, where each series is conveniently listed under four different age categories (New Sleuths, ages 4 to 6; Future Sleuths, ages 7 to 9; Junior Sleuths, ages 10 to 12; and Apprentice Sleuths, ages 13 and older).