Mystery Godoku Puzzle for November 04, 2013

A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle has been created by the editors of the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and is now available on our website.

Godoku is similar to Sudoku, but uses letters instead of numbers. To give you a headstart, we provide you a mystery clue to fill in a complete row or column (if you choose to use it!).

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This week's letters and mystery clue:

A C E K M N R S U

This "king" is mentioned in a 2011 George Pelecanos title (9 letters).

We now have two weeks of our puzzles on one page in PDF format for easier printing. Print this week's puzzle here.

Previous puzzles are stored in the Mystery Godoku Archives.

Enjoy the weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle from the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, and Thanks for visiting our website!

Today's Mystery and Suspense Update from Big Fish Games (131104)

Here is today's mystery and suspense update from Big Fish Games …

• The Featured Title is Curse at Twilight: Thief of Souls.

• The current Catch of the Week is Theatre of Shadows: As You Wish, just $2.99 through Sunday, November 10, 2013 only.

Visit the Omnimystery Entertainment Network for more games of mystery and suspense!

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Today's Featured Title is Curse at Twilight: Thief of Souls

After being summoned to a mysterious manor, you must unravel the story of an ancient evil and discover your destiny before its too late! Unlock memories from the past and solve intricate puzzles to break the webs of a curse. Explore a magical world beyond your imagination that has been waiting for you to save it. Experience this stunning Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game!

A sample version is available to download and play for free for one hour.

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The current Catch of the Week is Theatre of Shadows: As You Wish

Take a journey as a Hunter of Darkness, who is wandering the Earth and answering the call of distress when evil invades where it's not welcome. His ring leads him to the Theatre of Shadows. There he meets the owner of the theatre, Donna, whose husband, Nicholas, is possessed by a dark force that came from a magic shadow puppet. Save Nicholas and capture the dark force before it releases dark shadows from another dimension!

A sample version is available to download and play for free for one hour. You can purchase this game at the special price of $2.99 through Sunday, November 10, 2013.

Review: Skating Under the Wire by Joelle Charbonneau

A Mysterious Review of Skating Under the Wire by Joelle Charbonneau. A Rebecca Robbins Mystery.

Review summary: The mystery here is an entertaining one if also a very light one. The appeal here is primarily in the diverse cast of characters centered around an appealing amateur sleuth, one who takes her small town community responsibilities very seriously, even if the police don't necessarily share her enthusiasm for her work. A solid entry in this series. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Skating Under the Wire
Joelle Charbonneau
A Rebecca Robbins Mystery
Minotaur Books (October 2013)

Publisher synopsis: Rebecca Robbins has pulled the rink she inherited off the market. She's decided to stay in Indian Falls for good. Rebecca is certain that if she can get her maid of honor duties fulfilled and Thanksgiving dinner cooked, life will finally settle down to normal.

But when Rebecca is hired to look into a string of home invasions and a dead body turns up at the bridal shower, she is forced to put aside her hopes for a quiet holiday season.

With the help of her Elvis-loving grandfather and her sexy, commitment-seeking large animal vet boyfriend, Rebecca has to track down thieves that have eluded the cops for years, solve a murder, get her friend safely married, and somehow cook dinner for an ever expanding guest list without getting herself killed.

      

A New MystereBook: Key West Murders by Nicole and Robert Daines

Here is a mystery, suspense, or thriller ebook that we recently found by sleuthing (as it were) through new or recently reissued titles from independent publishers during November 2013 priced $3.99 or less …

Key West Murders by Nicole and Robert Daines is based on a true event, a story ripped from the headlines and force you question everything you think you know about human behavior — the good, the bad, and the grotesquely depraved.

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Key West Murders by Nicole and Robert Daines
A Crime Thriller
Publisher: Heart To Heart Publishing
Publication Date: November 01, 2013

In the middle of the night, Louise Jorgensen sees a bleeding naked boy running down the street in front of her house. She takes him in long enough to clothe him and find out his name and age, and then she calls the police for help. As Louise watches the Key West Police car leaving with 12-year-old Kim Lee in the backseat, she feels grateful that he's now safe. What she doesn't know is that the next time she sees the boy, all that will be left of him is his decapitated head.

Kim Lee's death and dismemberment might have been the end of the story … but in Key West, the official city motto is: We Are One Human Family, and Louise Jorgensen and her friends take that statement literally. In spite of police cover-ups and deadly threats from the authorities, Louise and her friends are determined to get justice for Kim … but tragically, the price they pay will haunt their lives forever.

  

Pale Horse Coming, An Earl Swagger Mystery by Stephen Hunter, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Pale Horse Coming by Stephen Hunter, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Pocket Books.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $1.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (11/03/2013 at 4:00 PM ET). 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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Pale Horse Coming by Stephen Hunter
An Earl Swagger Mystery (2nd in series)
Publisher: Pocket Books

It's 1951, and the last place in America any sane man wishes to visit is Thebes State Penal Farm (Colored) in Thebes, Mississippi. Up a dark river, surrounded by swamps and impenetrable piney woods, it's the Old South at its most brutal -- a place of violence, racial terror, and even more horrific rumors. Of the few who make the journey, black or white, even fewer return.

But in that year, two men will come to Thebes. The first is Sam Vincent, the former prosecuting attorney of Polk County, Arkansas. With great misgivings, Sam accepts a job from a smooth-talking Chicago lawyer to investigate a disappearance. Sam has heard of Thebes and knows that in the Negro culture he only imperfectly understands, the place has a special resonance of horror.

Sam is a careful man. Before he leaves on this dangerous trip, he confesses his fears to his former investigator Earl Swagger, a Marine hero on Iwo Jima, veteran of the mob wars in Hot Springs, and now a sergeant of the Arkansas State Police. Earl pledges that if Sam is not back by a certain time, he will come looking for him. Sam will bring his knowledge of the law, his compassion, and his sense of the rational to Thebes, but Earl will bring only his guns.

What they encounter there is something beyond their wildest imaginations for evil. The dying black town is ruled by white deputies on horseback who are more like an occupying army than a police force. Each citizen of the town is in debt to the Store, the one remaining civic institution, and the only escape is over the wild currents of the dark river that drowns as many people as it liberates.

But nothing in the town can prepare Earl for the prison itself where he becomes the first white inmate. It is a site of fear: Run by an aging madman with insane theories of racial purity, it is administered by a brutally efficient Stalin of a guard sergeant known as Bigboy. The convicts call him The Whip Man — he can take a man's soul with his nine feet of braided catgut.

Both Sam and Earl will be challenged to the limits of their strength by this place and will struggle not only for their own survival, but with deeper questions: What does a man do when confronted with such evil? Can it be remedied? Can it be rectified, redirected, reformed?

Or must it just be destroyed? And if so, where would you find the men to destroy it?

  

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price 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.

A New MystereBook: Undercover by Delia Brendan

Here is a mystery, suspense, or thriller ebook that we recently found by sleuthing (as it were) through new or recently reissued titles from independent publishers during October 2013 priced $3.99 or less …

Undercover by Delia Brendan is the first mystery in a new series that introduces Pearl Waterman, co-owner of the My My Cupcake bakery.

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Undercover by Delia Brendan
A Matchmaker Pearl Romantic Mystery
Publisher: Delia Brendan
Publication Date: October 31, 2013

Pearl Waterman believes that if she knows anything, it is love and cupcakes. So when her matchmaking ability is challenged, she agrees to an outlandishly risky bet. Equipped with overconfidence and a healthy dose of delusion, she sets out to prove her matchmaking abilities by finding Becky Adams the love of her life.

Using twenty-first century technology with her nineteenth century romantic sensibilities, Pearl lands in the middle of a very real FBI investigation led by Special Agent Michael Hanson. Hanson is so desperate to resurrect his career that he accepts a no-win case with two wayward young agents. As the crime spree gains momentum, his chance of succeeding hinges on enlisting the help of a beautiful and smart police sergeant with an agenda of her own.

As their paths mix together, will this become a recipe for disaster or will Hanson and Pearl solve it before they both get burned?

  

A Real Piece of Work, A Dakota Stevens Mystery by Chris Orcutt, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature A Real Piece of Work by Chris Orcutt, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Have Pen, Will Travel.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $0.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (11/03/2013 at 3:00 PM ET). 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 Real Piece of Work by Chris Orcutt
A Dakota Stevens Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: Have Pen, Will Travel

At the close of a case in Key West, PI Dakota Stevens and his associate Svetlana Krüsh return to New York, where the city is in the grip of its worst blizzard since 1888.

When an art dealer stumbles in from the storm and hires them to find a stolen painting, they think it's just another case, but in no time they're neck-deep in a world of unstable artists, seductive gallery owners, mysterious collectors, deadly henchmen and a stunning femme fatale.

  

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price 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.

Mirage by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul, New in Bookstores This Week

Today's new hardcover mystery title, scheduled to be published this week by Putnam, is Mirage by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul.

For a list of more new hardcover mysteries published this month, visit our New Mysteries page for November 2013. For new paperback mysteries, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where a selection of November 2013 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers are shelved.

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Mirage
Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul
Series: Oregon Files (9th)

In October 1943, a U.S. destroyer sailed out of Philadelphia and supposedly vanished, the result of a Navy experiment with electromagnetic radiation. The story was considered a hoax — but now Juan Cabrillo and his Oregon colleagues aren't so sure.

There is talk of a new weapon soon to be auctioned, something very dangerous to America's interests, and the rumors link it to the great inventor Nikola Tesla, who was working with the Navy when he died in 1943. Was he responsible for the experiment? Are his notes in the hands of enemies? As Cabrillo races to find the truth, he discovers there is even more at stake than he could have imagined — but by the time he realizes it, he may already be too late.

      

Twenty Nancy Drew Games To Download at a Discount from Amazon

Amazon has discounted 18 games in the Nancy Drew Adventure series and both games in the Nancy Drew Dossier series to just $6.99 each (as of the date and time of this post, Sunday November 3rd, 2013 at 2:00 PM). All titles below are available to download for PC; a handful are for Mac.

The 18 Adventure titles are:

5 - The Final Scene
6 - Secret of the Scarlet Hand
9 - Danger on Deception Island
12 - Secret of the Old Clock
13 - Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon
14 - Danger by Design
15 - The Creature of Kapu Cave
16 - The White Wolf of Icicle Creek
17 - Legend of the Crystal Skull
18 - The Phantom of Venice
19 - The Haunting of Castle Malloy
20 - Ransom of the Seven Ships
21 - Warnings at Waverly Academy
22 - Trail of the Twister1 - Secrets Can Kill (remastered)
23 - Shadow at the Water's Edge
24 - The Captive Curse
25 - Alibi in Ashes

The 2 Dossier titles are:

Lights, Camera, Curses!
Resorting To Danger

Typically these games are priced from $9.99 (older titles) to $19.99 (newer titles). We've played titles in both series and they are well structured with terrific storylines. Here's the synopsis for the 25th game in the Adventure series, Alibi in Ashes:

A local contest turns into an arson scene and now deceit smolders among the charred ruins of the River Heights Town Hall. Police have several suspects, but well-placed incriminating evidence and poisonous local gossip compelled authorities to make only one arrest: Nancy Drew. Can you, as the teenage detective and her closest friends, catch the real arsonist and extinguish the accusations among the embers?

This popular series is now up to 29 titles, with the most recent being The Silent Spy, released just last month (and only available on CD-ROM). All games are rated E or E-10+ for mild violence.

MystereBooks: The Omega Command by Jon Land, Available this Month at a Special Price

Every month Amazon releases a new selection of Kindle books priced $3.99 or less.

Today's featured title from the Mystery & Thrillers category is The Omega Command by Jon Land. This Kindle book was listed at $1.99 as of the date and time of this post, Sunday, November 03, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET, and should be available at this price through the end of the month.

More information about the book is below; if other vendors have priced-matched this title, links to their sites are also shown.

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The Omega Command by Jon Land
A Blaine McCracken Mystery
Publisher: Open Road Media

A space shuttle is destroyed during flight, and the CIA recalls disgraced agent Blaine McCracken to uncover the people responsible …

A space shuttle disappears during a routine repair mission, 180 miles above Earth's surface. An intelligence operative with a dark secret is murdered, his car set ablaze, while he is in the middle of fulfilling a depraved fantasy. And a reporter receives a message from a dying man that suggests the organization responsible may be one of the world's most prestigious corporations.

The government knows just one man who can untangle this mystery: a throwaway on the deactivated list. Exiled to a desk job in Paris for stepping on the wrong toes, Blaine McCracken is a killer — a ruthless pursuer of truth who will let no one, friend or enemy, stand in his way when civilian lives are in danger.

McCracken gets results, and his country needs him now more than ever.

    

Click on the Amazon button to see also the special Whispersync offer associated with this title.

Important Note: 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.

Here Comes Charlie M, A Charlie Muffin Thriller by Brian Freemantle, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Here Comes Charlie M by Brian Freemantle, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Open Road.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $2.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (11/03/2013 at 1:00 PM ET). 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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Here Comes Charlie M by Brian Freemantle
A Charlie Muffin Thriller (2nd in series)
Publisher: Open Road

Disavowed spy Charlie Muffin wages war against his former employers …

Charlie Muffin has come back to England. The ex-spy, a veteran of twenty-five years' service to the Crown, was last seen in Berlin, where an attempt on his life by his own organization led to international embarrassment. They had expected Charlie — a disheveled, middle-aged survivor of every double cross in the book — to die easily. Instead, he disappeared.

But after months on the run, dulling his instincts with alcohol and laziness, the strain of life in the shadows finally gets to Charlie. By now the heat back home must have died down, and he shouldn't have any trouble sneaking across the Channel. Now, he expects, he can finally be safe in England.

Charlie Muffin is dead wrong.

  

Click on the Amazon button to see also the special Whispersync offer associated with this title.

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price 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.

A New MystereBook: Borrowed Bones by Charles A. Salter

Here is a mystery, suspense, or thriller ebook that we recently found by sleuthing (as it were) through new or recently reissued titles from independent publishers during November 2013 priced $3.99 or less …

Borrowed Bones by Charles A. Salter is the fourth book in this adventure series featuring Major Brad Stout.

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Borrowed Bones by Charles A. Salter
A Brad Stout Adventure
Publisher: Charles A. Salter
Publication Date: November 01, 2013

A lethal Unexplained Radiation Phenomenon in Puerto Rico baffles government scientists. The White House orders total secrecy and sends their top radiation expert Major Brad Stout to help.

Struggling to control the spreading menace, Brad must also battle a mysterious terrorist group which interferes at every step and clearly wants him dead. If not halted immediately, the disaster will race over all Puerto Rico and then threaten the rest of the world … but there’s a saboteur on the inside.

And what motivates the lovely Lindsey Cowell to insinuate herself into Brad’s life? Is she trying to steal him away from bride Mary Lou? With the deadly clock ticking down, whose bones must Brad borrow to finally solve the puzzle? And can he get them in time?

  

New Trailer for HBO's True Detective

A new trailer has been released by HBO for its upcoming crime drama series True Detective (embedded, below). This is (we believe) the third trailer from the network and there are a few scenes we haven't seen before. Overall this is shaping up to be one seriously dark drama.

In 2012, Louisiana State Police Detectives Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson) are brought in to revisit a homicide case they worked in 1995. As the inquiry unfolds in present day through separate interrogations, the two former detectives narrate the story of their investigation, reopening unhealed wounds, and drawing into question their supposed solving of a bizarre ritualistic murder in 1995. The timelines braid and converge in 2012 as each man is pulled back into a world they believed they'd left behind. In learning about each other and their killer, it becomes clear that darkness lives on both sides of the law.

True Detective premieres on HBO on January 12th, 2014.

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Amazon's All New Kindle Paperwhite: Reads Like a Book and Goes Beyond a Book

The all-new Kindle Paperwhite is designed to deliver the best reading experience from a digital book reader.

New features include higher contrast and better reflectivity; 25% faster processor; next generation built-in light; and a tighter touch grid that makes it more responsive to the smallest touches.

Two variants are available (all information current as of the date and time of this post, Sunday, November 3rd, 2013 at 11:00 AM): with special offers for $119 and without special offers for $139.

Currently, over 80% of the reviews of the product are 4- or 5-stars.

Use this link for more information and to get all the specifications of the Kindle Paperwhite.

With Amazon's new Kindle MatchBook program, your past, present, and future print-edition purchases allow you to buy the Kindle edition for $2.99, $1.99, $0.99, or receive for free. Tens of thousands of books are already part of this program.

And remember, with Amazon Prime, Kindle owners can choose from hundreds of thousands of books to borrow for free from the Kindle Owner's Lending Library.

Dead Money Run by J. Frank James is Today's Fourth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Dead Money Run by J. Frank James as today's fourth free mystery ebook (A Lou Malloy Crime Novel; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, November 03, 2013 at 7:40 AM ET. 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.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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Dead Money Run
J. Frank James
A Lou Malloy Crime Novel
Publisher: J. Frank James

Lou Malloy has just maxed out on a fifteen year prison sentence for the theft of $15 million and just before leaving prison he learns that his sister is brutally killed. As he is leaving prison, he's told to keep his nose clean or he would soon be back. As far as Malloy is concerned all bets were off until he finds his sister's killer. In the meantime, he has to fight off predators trying to get their hands on the money he stole and keep from being sent back to prison trying to protect those dear to him. He catches a break when he meets up with Hilary Kelly, a private investigator with an agenda of her own, She has been hired by the insurance company that paid on the theft claim of the money stolen from the casino by Malloy. In the course of events, Malloy and Kelly become more than just friends and Kelly decides to throw in with Malloy. Together they work to uncover exactly what happened to Malloy's sister and why. Their search involves a vicious gang led by a vengeful old man and his crazy son who has his own problems keeping his hands off other women. To make matters worse, Malloy and Kelly's search is complicated by the fact that Malloy's sister was really a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security and she was working undercover when she was killed trying to locate the whereabouts of special plates to produce counterfeit currency that if the plates end up in the wrong hands, whole banking systems of major foreign countries could collapse overnight.

As Malloy and Kelly race to find the killer of Malloy's sister, they enlist the help of Crusher, a pro wrestler who served in the cell next to Malloy at the Atlanta Penitentiary. The decision is made for Malloy and company to hit the same casino again that Malloy robbed fifteen years ago by a special ops unit of the Department of Homeland Security. The plan is complicated by the fact that the ops unit is a phony setup led by a former agent turned rouge who is backed by another vicious gang with international contacts intent on getting their hands on the missing money plates. Malloy decides to go through with the heist of the casino a second time, but on a different schedule than planned. If they don't make it they have no way to return to the real world. They are in a make or break it race. Read as they race to the finish line and learn if this where the run ends or the run begins …

  

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.

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