tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42853278321193757412009-11-10T19:47:30.913-05:00Mystery Books News: Information for and Reviews of Mystery Books, Television, Movies, Games, and more.Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.comBlogger2799125http://www.mystery-books.com/mbn-tn.jpgmysterybookshttp://feedburner.google.comThis is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use.tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-21218852718436535142009-11-10T16:49:00.000-05:002009-11-10T16:49:32.070-05:002009-11-10T16:49:32.070-05:00<p style="margin: 3px 0px 6px 12px; padding: 0px; width: 150px; height: 244px; float: right;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0316031933/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img alt="The Lineup, edited by Otto Penzler" title="The Lineup, edited by Otto Penzler" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 150px; height: 233px;" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0316031933.01._SCL_SX150_.jpg"></a></p> <p><span style="font-style: italic;">The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives</span>, edited by Otto Penzler, publishes today.<br> <br> A great recurring character in a series you love becomes an old friend. You learn about their strange quirks and their haunted pasts and root for them every time they face danger. But where do some of the most fascinating sleuths in the mystery and thriller world really come from?<br> <br> What was the real-life location that inspired Michael Connelly to make Harry Bosch a Vietnam vet tunnel rat? Why is Jack Reacher a drifter? How did a brief encounter in Botswana inspire Alexander McCall Smith to create Precious Ramotswe? In <span style="font-style: italic;">The Lineup</span>, some of the top mystery writers in the world tell about the genesis of their most beloved characters -- or, in some cases, let their creations do the talking.<br> <br> Listen to an interview with Otto Penzler, who talks about <span style="font-style: italic;">The Lineup</span>, below:</p> <p style="margin: 12px auto 18px; text-align: center;"><embed src="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/BTRPlayer.swf?file=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eblogtalkradio%2Ecom%2FLittleBrown%2Fplay%5Flist%2Exml%3Fitemcount%3D4&autostart=false&bufferlength=20&volume=undefined&borderweight=1&bordercolor=#999999&backgroundcolor=#FFFFFF&dashboardcolor=#0098CB&textcolor=#FFFFFF&detailscolor=#FFFFFF&playlistcolor=#999999&playlisthovercolor=#333333&cornerradius=10&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx?referrer_url=/Profile.aspx&C1=7&C2=6042973&C3=31&C4=&C5=&C6=" width="215" height="230" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" menu="false" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></p> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-2121885271843653514?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/wJ0QsUmCH9o" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/lineup-edited-by-otto-penzler-publishes.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-542600960466410802009-11-10T08:39:00.000-05:002009-11-10T08:39:59.560-05:002009-11-10T08:39:59.560-05:00<p style="margin: 3px 3px 6px 12px; padding: 0px; width: 250px; height: 76px; float: right;"><img alt="Carina Press" title="Carina Press" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 250px; height: 76px;" src="http://mystery-books-news.omnimystery.com/graphics/logo-carina-press.jpg"></p> <p>In a press release yesterday, <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Harlequin-Launches-prnews-3894456163.html?x=0&amp;.v=1" target="_blank">Harlequin</a> announced <a href="http://www.carinapress.com/" target="_blank">Carina Press</a>, a digital-only publishing house whose ebooks will be sold direct to consumers.<br> <br> Though most of the ebooks are expected to be romance novels, Carina Press is currently accepting submissions in all genres of commercial fiction. Carina Press will also acquire books that have been previously released in print form, but for which the author has either retained digital rights or had digital rights revert to them.<br> <br> According to the website, in the "Mystery" category, Carina Press is open to the full range of mysteries, from soft to hard including cozies, procedurals, historical mysteries, and contemporary PIs, especially those in the 60,000 to 80,000 word range. For the "Thriller" category, they're looking for edge-of-the-seat suspense, all types including psychological, legal, medical, and political thrillers.<br> <br> Advances will not be paid. Authors will receive royalty-based payments only. For more information about submitting manuscripts to Carina Press, visit their <a href="http://www.carinapress.com/?page_id=5" target="_blank">FAQ page</a>.<br><br>Carina Press plans to launch in summer 2010 and will release new titles on a weekly basis.</p> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-54260096046641080?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/mAX6k84e5xQ" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/harlequin-announces-new-digital.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-5112448461878657552009-11-10T08:17:00.002-05:002009-11-10T08:17:54.402-05:002009-11-10T08:17:54.402-05:00<p style="margin: 3px 3px 6px 12px; padding: 0px; width: 150px; height: 231px; float: right;"><img alt="Stumptown by Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth" title="Stumptown by Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 150px; height: 231px;" src="http://mystery-books-news.omnimystery.com/graphics/cover-stumptown-01.jpg"></p> <p>Less than a week after its publication date, the first issue in a new graphic crime series by <a href="http://authors.omnimystery.com/rucka-greg.html">Greg Rucka</a>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Stumptown</span>, is reportedly sold out at the distributor level. The only copies that may be available will be in your local comic book store. (It's also unavailable from the publisher, <a href="http://www.onipress.com/display.php?type=bk&amp;id=397" target="_blank">Oni Press</a>.)<br> <br> The series, set in Portland (Oregon), features Dex, proprietor of Stumptown Investigations, and a fairly talented P.I. In the first issue, Dex is less adept at throwing dice, however, than solving cases. Her recent streak has left her beyond broke&mdash;she's into the Confederated Tribes of the Wind Coast for 18 large. But maybe Dex's luck is about to change. Sue-Lynne, head of the Wind Coast's casino operation, will clear Dex' debt if she can locate Sue-Lynne's missing granddaughter. But is this job Dex's way out of the hole or a shove down one much much deeper?<br> <br> In the second issue, on sale November 25th, Dex is hot on the trail of the missing Charlotte Suppa, but the closer she gets, the more people shoot at her. Why is Charlotte on the run and what did she do to garner the attention of the Marenco crime family?<br> <br> The series website, <a href="http://onipress.com/stumptowninvestigations/" target="_blank">Stumptown Investigations</a>, is still under development as of the date of this post.<br> <br> Greg Rucka, author of the Atticus Kodiak mystery series, also wrote the <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/09/whiteout-thriller-based-on-graphic.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Whiteout</span> graphic series on which the movie of the same name</a> was recently released.</p> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-511244846187865755?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/hau88jnELNc" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/stumptown-new-graphic-crime-series.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-47135372737889472892009-11-09T16:49:00.000-05:002009-11-09T16:49:50.098-05:002009-11-09T16:49:50.098-05:00<p style="margin: 6px auto 12px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/"><img title="Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed games, parties, and vacations" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 375px; height: 80px;" alt="Games of Mystery" src="http://games.omnimystery.com/mystery-games-graphics/banner-games-of-mystery-news.jpg"></a></p> <p><a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/" rel="tag">Games of Mystery</a>, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, and mystery getaway vacations, is publishing a new review of <span style="font-style: italic;">Midnight Mysteries</span>. For readers of Mystery Books News, we are printing it here first in advance of its publication on our website.</p> <p style="margin: 3px 0px 6px 12px; float: right; width: 175px; height: 150px;"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/5854/midnight-mysteries-edgar-allan-poe-conspiracy/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank"><img alt="Midnight Mysteries" title="Download and Buy Midnight Mysteries" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 175px; height: 150px;" src="https://games.bigfishgames.com/en_midnight-mysteries-edgar-allan-poe-conspiracy/midnight-mysteries-edgar-allan-poe-conspiracy_feature.jpg"></a></p> <p>Mystery Game Review: <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/5854/midnight-mysteries-edgar-allan-poe-conspiracy/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy</a>.</p> <p><span style="font-style: italic;">Midnight Mysteries</span> is a hidden object game based on the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Edgar Allan Poe.</p> <p>There is a long introduction to the game, and periodically throughout your gameplay will be interrupted with cutscreens that provide a continuation of narrative. It wasn't clear to me where this was leading, though it strongly implied that a solution to the mystery was to be gained by the end of the game. Both the introduction and the cutscreens have options to skip them.</p> <p>Gameplay is straightforward, with the story divided into 6 chapters. (Note: I was only able to get through most of the second chapter before an apparent software bug prevented me from continuing. This review, therefore, only goes through these first 2 chapters.) The cursor is a skeletal hand that is used for picking objects; it changes to blue when an object needs a tool from your tool chest, or green when a closer look is required.</p> <p style="margin: 3px 0px 6px 12px; float: right; width: 250px; height: 190px;"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/5854/midnight-mysteries-edgar-allan-poe-conspiracy/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank"><img alt="Midnight Mysteries" title="Download and Buy Midnight Mysteries" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 250px; height: 190px;" src="http://games.omnimystery.com/mystery-game-reviews/midnight-mysteries/mm-01.jpg"></a></p> <p>The screens are beautifully rendered and have "movement", branches swaying and the like. The scenes are atmospheric, something you'd expect to visualize in a Poe story. There are many more objects on the screen than you need to find; the list of objects changes every time you play the game, something that adds interest for replays. Some objects, however, are tools and will be automatically placed in your toolbox. The majority of the objects are placed within the context of the scene; some are randomly (and illogically) placed, and these detract only a bit from the experience. There are quite a few objects that are "hidden in plain sight", so well integrated into the scene that they're easy to overlook. Some objects are partially obscured by other items in the scene.</p> <p style="margin: 3px 0px 6px 12px; float: right; width: 250px; height: 190px;"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/5854/midnight-mysteries-edgar-allan-poe-conspiracy/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank"><img alt="Midnight Mysteries" title="Download and Buy Midnight Mysteries" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 250px; height: 190px;" src="http://games.omnimystery.com/mystery-game-reviews/midnight-mysteries/mm-02.jpg"></a></p> <p>Clicking randomly causes your ability to obtain a hint to disappear for a short time, but it's really not necessary to do so. I found I was using hints rather frequently. That's partly because they're easy to use, and virtually unlimited. Finding a raven in a scene gives you a hint, but really, you don't need to find the ravens at all. After you use a hint (in the form of a raven), another raven automatically appears several seconds later, restoring your hint. The lantern in the scene is lit when a hint is available, but you don't necessary have to use it to locate an object. Simply selecting the object name will give an outline, oriented properly thought not to scale, of the object to be found. Some of the object names aren't really name, but clues to the object. For example, "wise bird" is an owl, "bottle stopper" is a cork, and "attracts metal" is a magnet. It's a nice touch, and an interesting variation.</p> <p style="margin: 3px 0px 6px 12px; float: right; width: 250px; height: 190px;"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/5854/midnight-mysteries-edgar-allan-poe-conspiracy/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank"><img alt="Midnight Mysteries" title="Download and Buy Midnight Mysteries" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 250px; height: 190px;" src="http://games.omnimystery.com/mystery-game-reviews/midnight-mysteries/mm-03.jpg"></a></p> <p>But all is not perfect here. I initially got stuck at the beginning of Chapter 2 on the gravestone scene and was never able to find the secret map. Maybe there's some proper order in which the operations much be done, but I got to a point where I could do nothing. Finally, an option showed up that completed the "puzzle" for me, but I'm not sure what that puzzle was. In the next scene I had a scroll briefly in my toolchest, but it soon disappeared. I still don't know what I was supposed to do with it, or how it should have been used. The next scenes of the chapter proceeded smoothly, and I found myself in Poe's study hunting hidden objects. One, a banana ("monkey food"), was plainly in view but couldn't be selected (even though the "selected" sound played every time I clicked on it). Using a hint to try to select it also didn't work. I couldn't go forward, or backward, and there was no option to complete the task for me. Even restarting the game didn't help. I suppose I could have created a new profile and replayed the game (and I still may do that at some point; I'm curious how it plays out, as it were), but I confess I was too discouraged at this point to do so now.</p> <p><span style="font-style: italic;">Midnight Mysteries</span> has a beautiful look to it, the background music is appropriately mysterious and the ambient sounds are relevant to the scenes. I greatly enjoyed the experience as long as it lasted, and though I'm willing to concede I was at fault at some point during the gameplay that may have affected later play, there should have been some option to either allow me to proceed or to restart without having to create a new profile. If anyone has a suggestion on how I might have done this differently, leave a comment below and I'll try it.</p> <p>Reviewed on November 09, 2009 by Ms. Terri, game reviewer for Mystery Books News.</p> <p><a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/5854/midnight-mysteries-edgar-allan-poe-conspiracy/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy</a> may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a <a href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/store/gameclub.html?afcode=af67f592a313" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Big Fish Game Club</a> membership. A demonstration version (142.17 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour. Also available: <a href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/blog/midnight-mysteries-the-edgar-allan-poe-conspiracy-walkthrough?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy Game Walkthrough</a>.<br> <br> Watch a preview video below:</p> <div style="margin: 0px auto 18px; text-align: center;" align="center"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://games.bigfishgames.com/en_midnight-mysteries-edgar-allan-poe-conspiracy/en_midnight-mysteries-edgar-allan-poe-conspiracy.flv" style="margin: 0px auto 12px; text-align: center; display: block; width: 400px; height: 300px;" id="player-5854"> </a></div> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.gamesofmystery.com/flowplayer/example/flowplayer-3.0.3.min.js"></script> <script> flowplayer("player-5854", "http://www.gamesofmystery.com/flowplayer/flowplayer-3.0.3.swf", { clip: { autoPlay: false, linkUrl: 'http://www.bigfishgames.com/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313', linkWindow: '_blank' } });</script> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-4713537273788947289?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/9ROuFS-PbhQ" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/games-of-mystery-review-midnight.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-17127218154657037102009-11-09T11:51:00.002-05:002009-11-09T11:51:43.999-05:002009-11-09T11:51:43.999-05:00<p style="margin: 6px auto 12px; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;"><a rel="tag" href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/"><img title="Mysterious Reviews: Mysteries Reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: block; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;" alt="Mysterious Reviews" src="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mysterious-reviews-news.jpg"></a></p><p><a href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/">Mysterious Reviews</a>, mysteries reviewed by the <a href="http://hsmb.omnimystery.com/">Hidden Staircase Mystery Books</a>, is publishing a new review of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Silent Spirit</span> by Margaret Coel. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.</p><p style="margin: 9px 3px 6px 12px; float: right; width: 150px; height: 225px;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0425229769/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="The Silent Spirit by Margaret Coel" alt="The Silent Spirit by Margaret Coel" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0425229769.01._SCL_SX150_.jpg" style="border: 0px solid transparent; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 150px; height: 225px;"></a></p><p><a rel="tag" style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mystery-book-reviews/coel-silent-spirit.html">The Silent Spirit</a> by <a title="More information about Margaret Coel including a bibliography of books" href="http://authors.omnimystery.com/coel-margaret.html" rel="tag">Margaret Coel</a><br><span style="font-style: italic;">A Wind River Mystery</span></p><p class="std10">Berkley Prime Crime (Hardcover)<br>ISBN-10: 0-425-22976-9 (0425229769)<br>ISBN-13: 978-0-425-22976-7 (9780425229767)<br>Publication Date: September 2009<br>List Price: $24.95</p><p class="std10"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Review</span>: Margaret Coel weaves a real event, the making of the 1923 silent film <span style="font-style: italic;">The Covered Wagon</span>, into a murder mystery spanning nearly 100 years, in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Silent Spirit</span>, the 15th book in this series set on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming.<br><br>Kiki Wallowingbull is a troubled young man, spending nearly half of his 25 years incarcerated -- juvenile detention, tribal jail, and most recently, state prison for dealing drugs. To atone for the trouble he's caused his family, he sets out for Hollywood to solve a family mystery: the disappearance of his great-grandfather, Charlie Wallowingbull, who left on a promotional tour for a film featuring "real" Indians but never returned, his whereabouts unknown and largely forgotten. But soon after Father John learns of Kiki's return to the reservation, he sets out to find him, only to discover his body in an area known where drug deals go down. The case seems closed when someone confesses to attorney Vicki Holden of killing him. But when Father John reads an old letter written by Tim McCoy, the star of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Covered Wagon</span>, to express his concern over Charlie's disappearance, he realizes "the truth was here [on the reservation] all the time." And that Kiki's death may not be drug-related after all, but the result of something that happened in Hollywood so many years ago.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">The Silent Spirit</span> is a strongly compelling, seductive even, mystery, one that draws the reader in, knowing there's more to the disappearance of Charlie Wallowingbull and the murder of his great-grandson than meets the eye but, like the snow-covered landscape that is the setting for the story, not sure where to look to find it. The plot is clever, the misdirection subtle. The author includes several chapters set in 1922 and 1923 during the filming of, and later the promotion of, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Covered Wagon</span>, which provide historical context to the story as well as giving clues as to circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Charlie. But it's Father John's tenacity and belief in Kiki that prevails, culminating in a denouement that will likely come as a surprise to most readers.</p><p class="std10">Special thanks to Penguin Group for providing a copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Silent Spirit</span> for this review.</p><p class="std10" style="text-align: center;">Review Copyright &copy; 2009 &mdash; Hidden Staircase Mystery Books &mdash; All Rights Reserved</p><p style="margin: 0px 3px 6px 12px; width: 120px; height: 28px; float: right;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0425229769/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Buy The Silent Spirit by Margaret Coel from Amazon.com" alt="Buy from Amazon.com" src="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mystery-reviews-graphics/buy-from-amazon.gif" style="margin: 6px 0px 0px 0px; border: 0px solid transparent; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 120px; height: 28px;"></a></p><p>If you are interested in purchasing <a title="Buy The Silent Spirit by Margaret Coel from Amazon.com" style="font-style:italic;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0425229769/?tag=mystery-books-20">The Silent Spirit</a> from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right. <a title="The Silent Spirit by Margaret Coel (Kindle edition)" style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002DW930Q/?tag=mystery-books-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The Silent Spirit (Kindle edition)</a> is also available. Learn more about the <a title="Learn more about the Kindle from Amazon.com" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00154JDAI/?tag=mystery-books-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Kindle, Amazon's Wireless Reading Device</a>.</p><p class="std10"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Synopsis</span>&nbsp;(from the publisher): In 1923, Arapahos from the Wind River Reservation were recruited to appear as extras in the silent film <span style="font-style: italic;">The Covered Wagon</span>. But Charlie Wallowingbull never returned home, leaving people to believe he abandoned his wife and unborn son.<br><br>Kiki Wallowingbull, Charlie's great-grandson, went to Hollywood determined to uncover the truth behind his great-grandfather's disappearance. But Kiki has been murdered -- his frozen body discovered by Father John, and his supposed killer confessing to Vicky that it was self-defense. Together, they must find the connection between two deaths separated by nearly a century.</p><p>Return to <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/" rel="tag">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-1712721815465703710?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/7glw0Zp0fGc" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/mystery-book-review-silent-spirit-by.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-2696280561467881362009-11-09T07:51:00.000-05:002009-11-09T07:51:57.937-05:002009-11-09T07:51:57.937-05:00<p style="margin: 3px 3px 6px 12px; padding: 0px; width: 150px; height: 221px; float: right;"><img alt="The Reincarnation of Peter Proud by Max Ehrlich" title="The Reincarnation of Peter Proud by Max Ehrlich" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 150px; height: 221px;" src="http://mystery-books-news.omnimystery.com/graphics/cover-reincarnation-peter-proud.jpg"></p> <p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2009/11/david-fincher-seven-reincarnation-of-peter-proud-max-ehrlich.html">The Hollywood Reporter</a> is reporting that an updated version of the controversial movie <span style="font-style: italic;">The Reincarnation of Peter Proud</span>, based on the novel of the same name by Max Ehrlich, is being planned for Columbia Pictures.<br> <br> The creative team behind the thriller <span style="font-style: italic;">Se7en</span>, Andrew Kevin Walker and David Fincher, will (respectively) write and direct.<br> <br> About <span style="font-style: italic;">The Reincarnation of Peter Proud</span>: Peter Proud, a professor at a small California college, begins having recurring dreams that disturb him. Under hypnosis, he discovers he is the reincarnation of a young man from the 1940s who was murdered. Determined to find out who killed him in a past life, Peter begins to relive an existence that is fraught with danger.<br> <br> The 1974 book is long out of print, and the 1975 film, adapted by Ehrlich from his novel and starring Michael Sarrazin, Jennifer O'Neill, and Margot Kidder, was never released on DVD.</p> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-269628056146788136?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/n_-N7ZSmMSA" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com1http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/remake-planned-for-reincarnation-of.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-61860167151201511772009-11-09T06:47:00.001-05:002009-11-09T06:47:00.093-05:002009-11-09T06:47:00.093-05:00<p style="margin: 6px auto 12px; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;"><a href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/"><img title="Mysteries on TV, the most complete selection of detective, amateur sleuth, private investigator, and suspense television mystery series now available or coming soon to DVD" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 375px; height: 80px;" alt="Mysteries on TV" src="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/mysteries-on-tv-news.jpg"></a></p> <p><a href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/" rel="tag">Mysteries on TV</a>, your source for the most complete selection of detective, amateur sleuth, private investigator, and suspense television mystery series now available or coming soon to DVD, is profiling two series that have season DVDs being released this week.</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&mdash;&nbsp;&loz;&nbsp;&mdash;</p> <p style="margin: 3px 12px 6px 9px; width: 150px; height: 210px; float: left;"><a rel="tag" href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/jag.html"><img title="JAG: Season Nine Available on DVD" alt="JAG: Season Nine, a Mystery TV Series" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 150px; height: 210px;" src="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/covers/jag-s09-150x210.jpg"></a></p> <p><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/jag.html" rel="tag">JAG</a> (Judge Advocate General) is an elite legal branch of military officers trained as lawyers who investigate, prosecute, and defend those accused of military crimes, including murder, treason, and terrorism. The JAG team is on the case -- aboard aircraft carriers, submarines, and on military bases -- investigating and litigating incidents involving Navy and Marine personnel.<br> <br> Navy Cmdr. Harmon "Harm" Rabb (David James Elliott), an ace pilot turned lawyer, and Marine Lt. Col. Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie (Catherine Bell), a strictly by-the-book officer, are partners with similar high standards who often find themselves clashing as they take different routes to solve cases.<br> <br> The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001G0MFPG/?tag=mystery-books-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">JAG: Season Nine</a> DVD set of 5 discs contain the 23 episodes of the penultimate season that aired on CBS from September 2003 through May 2004.</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&mdash;&nbsp;&loz;&nbsp;&mdash;</p> <p style="margin: 3px 12px 6px 9px; width: 150px; height: 210px; float: left;"><a rel="tag" href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/nash-bridges.html"><img title="Nash Bridges: Season Three Available on DVD" alt="Nash Bridges: Season Three, a Mystery TV Series" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 150px; height: 210px;" src="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/covers/nash-bridges-s03-150x210.jpg"></a></p> <p><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/nash-bridges.html" rel="tag">Nash Bridges</a> is back with a season of special investigations, car chases, shootouts, and, of course, ex-wife drama.<br> <br> Starring Don Johnson as San Francisco's most charismatic and dedicated detective -- and Cheech Marin as his loyal yet screwball partner, Joe Dominguez -- this explosive season finds Nash and the SIU crew taking on some of San Francisco's toughest criminals, from corrupt cops and dangerous drug lords, to desperate robbers and sexual predators. Armed with his gun, his electric yellow 1971 Plymouth Barracuda, and his killer instincts, Nash is one officer of the law who refuses to let the bad guys win.<br> <br> The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001G0MFQ0/?tag=mystery-books-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Nash Bridges: Season Three</a> DVD set of 5 discs contain the 23 episodes of the third season that aired on CBS from September 1997 through May 1998.</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&mdash;&nbsp;&loz;&nbsp;&mdash;</p> <p>Visit the <a href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/">Mysteries on TV</a> website to discover more <a href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/" rel="tag">television mystery series</a> currently available on DVD.</p> <p>Return to <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/" rel="tag">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-6186016715120151177?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/EwhISEdiDsA" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/mysteries-on-tv-jag-and-nash-bridges.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-51494260478073030772009-11-09T05:57:00.000-05:002009-11-09T05:57:00.530-05:002009-11-09T05:57:00.530-05:00<p style="margin: 6px auto 12px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;"><a rel="tag" href="http://godoku.omnimystery.com/"><img title="Find More Mystery Godoku Puzzles at MysteryGodoku.com" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px auto 20px; padding: 0px; display: block; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;" alt="Mystery Godoku" src="http://godoku.omnimystery.com/graphics/mystery-godoku-news.jpg"></a></p> <p>A new <a href="http://godoku.omnimystery.com/" rel="tag">Mystery Godoku Puzzle</a> has been created by the editors of the <a href="http://hsmb.omnimystery.com/">Hidden Staircase Mystery Books</a> and is now available on our website.</p> <p>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!).</p> <p style="margin: 3px 0px 6px 12px; padding: 0px; float: right; width: 170px; height: 181px;"><a href="http://godoku.omnimystery.com/"><img title="Mystery Godoku Puzzle for November 09, 2009" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; float: right; width: 170px; height: 181px;" alt="Mystery Godoku Puzzle for November 09, 2009" src="http://godoku.omnimystery.com/puzzles/godoku-091109-p.jpg"></a></p> <p>This week's letters and mystery clue:</p> <p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">A D E F I L M N S</span></p> <p>The 4th Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mystery by <a href="http://authors.omnimystery.com/bebris-carrie.html">Carrie Bebris</a> has this park in its title (9 letters). </p> <p>We now have two weeks of our puzzles on one page in PDF format for easier printing. Print this week's puzzle <a href="http://godoku.omnimystery.com/print-091109.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> <p>Previous puzzles are stored in the <a href="http://godoku.omnimystery.com/mystery-godoku-archives.html">Mystery Godoku Archives</a>.</p> <p>Enjoy the weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle from the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, and Thanks for visiting our website!</p> <p style="text-align: center;"> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="http://www.qksz.net/1e-fpds"></script>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="http://www.qksz.net/1e-fpdt"></script></p> <p>Return to <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/" rel="tag">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-5149426047807303077?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/gDpvfYGdPK0" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/mystery-godoku-puzzle-for-november-09.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-30012486138110914732009-11-08T18:29:00.001-05:002009-11-08T18:29:55.045-05:002009-11-08T18:29:55.045-05:00<p style="margin: 6px auto 12px; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;"><a rel="tag" href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/"><img title="Mysterious Reviews: Mysteries Reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: block; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;" alt="Mysterious Reviews" src="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mysterious-reviews-news.jpg"></a></p><p><a href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/">Mysterious Reviews</a>, mysteries reviewed by the <a href="http://hsmb.omnimystery.com/">Hidden Staircase Mystery Books</a>, is publishing a new review of <span style="font-style: italic;">To Know Evil</span> by Stephen Gaspar. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.</p><p style="margin: 9px 3px 6px 12px; float: right; width: 150px; height: 225px;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0977191397/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="To Know Evil by Stephen Gaspar" alt="To Know Evil by Stephen Gaspar" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0977191397.01._SCL_SX150_.jpg" style="border: 0px solid transparent; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 150px; height: 225px;"></a></p><p><a rel="tag" style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mystery-book-reviews/gaspar-to-know-evil.html">To Know Evil</a> by <a title="More information about Stephen Gaspar including a bibliography of books" href="http://authors.omnimystery.com/gaspar-stephen.html" rel="tag">Stephen Gaspar</a><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Non-series</span></p><p class="std10">Pemberley (Trade Paperback)<br>ISBN-10: 0-9771913-9-7 (0977191397)<br>ISBN-13: 978-0-9771913-9-0 (9780977191390)<br>Publication Date: October 2009<br>List Price: $17.95</p><p class="std10"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Review</span>: Stephen Gaspar crafts an intriguing tale of betrayal and murder, set in a monastery on a remote mountaintop in northern Italy, in <span style="font-style: italic;">To Know Evil</span>, a novel that could readily serve as an introduction for a series character.<br><br>It is the year 999, and Brother Thomas of Worms, a German monk who has traveled extensively, has been living in a Benedictine monastery for two years now. It's a simple life, one to which he is devoted. A mysterious stranger from the east, also a monk, but surly and brusque, shows up one day and is welcomed by Thomas. Soon thereafter a fellow brother is found dead at the base of a set of steep stairs. It's called an accident, but Thomas isn't sure. He suspects the stranger of being involved, but when Thomas questions the abbot of the monastery, he's told to keep to himself. Then another brother dies, again under unusual circumstances. Brother Thomas is convinced the stranger is responsible, but he has already left the monastery. Brother Thomas is beside himself, thinking a murderer has gone free, but again, the abbot tells him he is wrong. Assigned to copy scripture in the library to keep him occupied, Thomas is shown a rare manuscript by Brother Nicholas that suggests a document from hundreds of years ago may be hidden within the confines of the monastery. Always one to seek knowledge in whatever form it may take, Thomas and Nicholas begin a quest for the document, which results in the death of another brother, and leads them to a more precious relic, one that relates to, and tells of, the last days of Jesus of Nazareth.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">To Know Evil</span> is a well-written, quite literate novel, and more than just a murder mystery. The historical background, based in fact but fictionalized for the purpose of the book, is fascinating and adds an atmospheric, almost noirish, feel to the story. Comparisons to other religious artifact thrillers may be inevitable, but here the action is more ethereal than physical, and the mystery more subtle. Clues to the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the brothers are weaved into the story, and the resolution is soundly presented. What doesn't work quite as well, however, is the narrative that leads up to the "surprise" revelation at the book's conclusion, which is anything but, having been extensively foreshadowed. It's not clear what purpose this story arc serves, as it doesn't relate to the murder mystery, or to any of the principal plot points, and is really rather preposterous in what is otherwise a solidly credible story. That is appears to be added for shock value alone is a bit disappointing.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">To Know Evil</span> seems to be written as a stand-alone novel, but it could readily serve as the first mystery in a series. Given that Brother Thomas is a traveler, he could move from monastery to monastery, introducing readers to new locations and customs all the while using his keen intellect and deductive reasoning to solve medieval puzzles.</p><p class="std10">Special thanks to Stephen Gaspar for providing a copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">To Know Evil</span> for this review.</p><p class="std10" style="text-align: center;">Review Copyright &copy; 2009 &mdash; Hidden Staircase Mystery Books &mdash; All Rights Reserved</p><p style="margin: 0px 3px 6px 12px; width: 120px; height: 28px; float: right;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0977191397/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Buy To Know Evil by Stephen Gaspar from Amazon.com" alt="Buy from Amazon.com" src="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mystery-reviews-graphics/buy-from-amazon.gif" style="margin: 6px 0px 0px 0px; border: 0px solid transparent; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 120px; height: 28px;"></a></p><p>If you are interested in purchasing <a title="Buy To Know Evil by Stephen Gaspar from Amazon.com" style="font-style:italic;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0977191397/?tag=mystery-books-20">To Know Evil</a> from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.</p><p class="std10"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Synopsis</span>&nbsp;(from the publisher): The source of evil and the conflict between faith and knowledge are among the themes examined in this complex intellectual puzzle set in a medieval monastery.<br><br>An Irish monk dies in a Benedictine abbey in northern Italy on the eve of the second millennium. When Brother Thomas of Worms attempts to investigate the murder, his abbot accuses him of inventing trouble to avoid his duty to God and assigns Thomas the chore of copying a Biblical text as penance. Neither copying nor humility comes easily to an intelligent man like Thomas, who struggles with his commitment to obey his abbot. While in the library, Thomas is drawn to a gnostic book that leads him to a discovery that threatens the very fabric of the Church. When more monks perish, Thomas's loyalty to the monastery and its rites is tested, and he risks expulsion as he seeks to uncover the link between the murders and the hidden codex that has shaken his faith.</p><p>Return to <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/" rel="tag">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-3001248613811091473?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/IDt2sp7qpjg" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/mystery-book-review-to-know-evil-by.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-81730342387273288672009-11-07T17:08:00.000-05:002009-11-07T17:08:42.002-05:002009-11-07T17:08:42.002-05:00<p style="margin: 6px auto 12px; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;"><a rel="tag" href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/"><img title="Mysterious Reviews: Mysteries Reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: block; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;" alt="Mysterious Reviews" src="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mysterious-reviews-news.jpg"></a></p><p><a href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/">Mysterious Reviews</a>, mysteries reviewed by the <a href="http://hsmb.omnimystery.com/">Hidden Staircase Mystery Books</a>, is publishing a new review of <span style="font-style: italic;">Stained Glass</span> by Ralph McInerny. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.</p><p style="margin: 9px 3px 6px 12px; float: right; width: 150px; height: 225px;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312582641/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Stained Glass by Ralph McInerny" alt="Stained Glass by Ralph McInerny" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0312582641.01._SCL_SX150_.jpg" style="border: 0px solid transparent; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 150px; height: 225px;"></a></p><p><a rel="tag" style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mystery-book-reviews/mcinerny-stained-glass.html">Stained Glass</a> by <a title="More information about Ralph McInerny including a bibliography of books" href="http://authors.omnimystery.com/mcinerny-ralph.html" rel="tag">Ralph McInerny</a><br><span style="font-style: italic;">A Father Dowling Mystery</span></p><p class="std10">St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)<br>ISBN-10: 0-312-58264-1 (0312582641)<br>ISBN-13: 978-0-312-58264-7 (9780312582647)<br>Publication Date: October 2009<br>List Price: $24.99</p><p class="std10"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Review</span>: Father Dowling fights to prevent the closure of his church while solving a series of perplexing murders in <span style="font-style: italic;">Stained Glass</span>, the 28th mystery in this series by Ralph McInerny.<br><br>In these financially challenging times, there is, sadly, a shrinking number of parishioners attending church, and parishes that have been isolated by demographic change are the most affected. The Chicago Tribune has posted a list of churches expected to be closed by the Cardinal, and St. Hilary -- Father Dowling's church -- is one of them. Father Dowling appeals to his congregation and supporters of the church to join him in fighting its closure. He is grateful to discover that one of his most outspoken supporters is Margaret Ward, matriarch of the wealthy Devere family. August Devere, her grandfather, was a parishioner when the church was built, and had commissioned the renowned artist Angelo Menotti to design and assemble the stained glass windows for the church. Margaret Ward believes the building is beautiful and historic, and hires Carl Bartoff, editor of the Sacred Heart Monthly to create a book illustrating the stained glass windows, not only of St. Hilary's but also of other small endangered churches. She gives Bartoff a check for $100,000 to start the project. But then a woman is found dead, murdered, and the police determine she has a connection to Margaret Ward. And when several other people are killed, all indirectly associated with the Devere family, Father Dowling realizes he must solve this series of crimes to protect not only the reputation of a parishioner, but quite possibly too the church itself.<br><br>Fans of the series will take comfort in the familiar style of <span style="font-style: italic;">Stained Glass</span>, like old friends or family that one doesn't spend enough time with but should. Father Dowling is in top form here, at his deductive best, in solving this intricately plotted mystery, the resolution of which will likely come as a surprise to many readers. Even after 28 novels, there is a freshness to this series that is quite delightful, and most welcome.</p><p class="std10">Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of <a href="http://www.betzreview.com/" style="font-style: italic;">The Betz Review</a> for contributing her review of <span style="font-style: italic;">Stained Glass</span> and to St. Martin's Minotaur for providing a copy of the book for this review.</p><p class="std10" style="text-align: center;">Review Copyright &copy; 2009 &mdash; Hidden Staircase Mystery Books &mdash; All Rights Reserved</p><p style="margin: 0px 3px 6px 12px; width: 120px; height: 28px; float: right;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312582641/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Buy Stained Glass by Ralph McInerny from Amazon.com" alt="Buy from Amazon.com" src="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mystery-reviews-graphics/buy-from-amazon.gif" style="margin: 6px 0px 0px 0px; border: 0px solid transparent; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 120px; height: 28px;"></a></p><p>If you are interested in purchasing <a title="Buy Stained Glass by Ralph McInerny from Amazon.com" style="font-style:italic;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312582641/?tag=mystery-books-20">Stained Glass</a> from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.</p><p class="std10"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Synopsis</span>&nbsp;(from the publisher): Tough times and the unsolved murders of anyone with ties to the Deveres -- a family of wealthy parish patrons -- back Father Dowling up against a wall in his struggle to save his church from the chopping block.<br><br>With too many churches and not enough people to fill them, the Archdiocese has to make some cuts, and many of them, including the proposed closing of St. Hilary’s, are dangerously close to the bone. Father Dowling rushes to drum up support from church officials and parishioners, including the Deveres, who don’t want to see the stained glass windows they donated go anywhere other than the church they were meant for, but they can hardly be of help when those closest to them start turning up dead.<br><br>Church politics, long-kept family secrets, and a determined killer come together to put St. Hilary’s -- a church that countless characters and devoted readers have come to love -- and its parishioners in peril.</p><p>Return to <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/" rel="tag">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-8173034238727328867?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/GMoKqybp5Q8" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/mystery-book-review-stained-glass-by.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-22621635059310501022009-11-07T09:28:00.001-05:002009-11-07T12:36:04.781-05:002009-11-07T12:36:04.781-05:00<p style="margin: 6px auto 12px; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;"><a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/"><img style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 375px; height: 80px;" alt="Games of Mystery" title="Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed games, parties, and vacations." src="http://games.omnimystery.com/mystery-games-graphics/banner-games-of-mystery-news.jpg"></a></p> <p><a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/" rel="tag">Games of Mystery</a>, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, and more mysterious fun, is pleased to announce new mystery and suspense games available for immediate download from <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FGame-Downloads%2Fb%3Fie%3DUTF8%26node%3D979455011&amp;tag=mystery-books-20&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325">Amazon Video Games</a>.<br> </p> <p style="text-align: center;">&mdash;&nbsp;&loz;&nbsp;&mdash;</p> <p style="margin: 3px 12px 6px 9px; float: right; text-align: center; width: 185px;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UD5HQW/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Mystery Masterpiece: The Moonstone" alt="Mystery Masterpiece: The Moonstone" style="border: 0px none transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 185px; height: 185px;" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B002UD5HQW.01._SCL_SX175_PC_.jpgimages"></a><br> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UD5HQW/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img style="border: 0px none transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 169px; height: 27px;" alt="Download and Buy Mystery Masterpiece: The Moonstone" title="Download and Buy Mystery Masterpiece: The Moonstone" src="http://games.omnimystery.com/mystery-games-graphics/amazon-button.jpg"></a></p> <p><br> <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UD5HQW/?tag=mystery-books-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Mystery Masterpiece: The Moonstone</a><br> <br> Who stole the Moonstone diamond? Is it cursed? It's up to you to investigate and unravel the mystery! Investigate every person who was in the Victorian mansion at the time of the crime to locate the thief and try and find the ancient jewel in this hidden object adventure! Play the role of Detective Cuff, exploring every room to find valuable clues and hopefully return the enormous diamond to its rightful owner.<br> <br> Windows Vista / XP (135 MB download).</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&mdash;&nbsp;&loz;&nbsp;&mdash;</p> <p style="margin: 3px 12px 6px 9px; float: right; text-align: center; width: 185px;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UNMMW4/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Trapped: The Abduction" alt="Trapped: The Abduction" style="border: 0px none transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 185px; height: 185px;" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B002UNMMW4.01._SCL_SX175_PC_.jpgimages"></a><br> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UNMMW4/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img style="border: 0px none transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 169px; height: 27px;" alt="Download and Buy Trapped: The Abduction" title="Download and Buy Trapped: The Abduction" src="http://games.omnimystery.com/mystery-games-graphics/amazon-button.jpg"></a></p> <p><br> <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UNMMW4/?tag=mystery-books-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Trapped: The Abduction</a><br> <br> A regular day turns into a nightmare for a young woman who awakens locked in the back of a truck not knowing what happened, who she is, or what will happen next. Live through her terror as you help her crack codes, solve puzzles and escape traps laid out by her tormentor. Problem is, he turns out to be a serial killer, and he is watching you the entire time ... what seems like the exit might lead to another trap!<br> <br> Windows Vista / XP (92 MB download).</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&mdash;&nbsp;&loz;&nbsp;&mdash;</p> <p>A complete list of downloadable mystery games is available on our <a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/games-amazon-download.html">Games of Mystery: Amazon.com Game Download</a> page.</p> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-2262163505931050102?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/6W-7WM-Ixu0" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/games-of-mystery-mystery-masterpiece.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-91446910654043806952009-11-06T16:00:00.000-05:002009-11-06T16:00:16.422-05:002009-11-06T16:00:16.422-05:00<p style="margin: 6px auto 12px; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;"><a rel="tag" href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/"><img title="Mysterious Reviews: Mysteries Reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: block; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;" alt="Mysterious Reviews" src="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mysterious-reviews-news.jpg"></a></p><p><a href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/">Mysterious Reviews</a>, mysteries reviewed by the <a href="http://hsmb.omnimystery.com/">Hidden Staircase Mystery Books</a>, is publishing a new review of <span style="font-style: italic;">Ancient Laws</span> by Jim Michael Hansen. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.</p><p style="margin: 9px 3px 6px 12px; float: right; width: 150px; height: 225px;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0976924323/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Ancient Laws by Jim Michael Hansen" alt="Ancient Laws by Jim Michael Hansen" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0976924323.01._SCL_SX150_.jpg" style="border: 0px solid transparent; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 150px; height: 225px;"></a></p><p><a rel="tag" style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mystery-book-reviews/hansen-ancient-laws.html">Ancient Laws</a> by <a title="More information about Jim Michael Hansen including a bibliography of books" href="http://authors.omnimystery.com/hansen-jim-michael.html" rel="tag">Jim Michael Hansen</a><br><span style="font-style: italic;">A Bryson Coventry Mystery</span></p><p class="std10">Dark Sky (Trade Paperback)<br>ISBN-10: 0-9769243-2-3 (0976924323)<br>ISBN-13: 978-0-9769243-2-6 (9780976924326)<br>Publication Date: September 2009<br>List Price: $13.95</p><p class="std10"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Review</span>: Homicide detective Bryson Coventry travels to Paris, where a woman has been killed in a manner similar to that in one of his unsolved murder cases in Denver, in <span style="font-style: italic;">Ancient Laws</span>, the eighth mystery in this series by Jim Michael Hansen.<br><br>The case is personal to Coventry, as he had inadvertently revealed the name of a witness to the crime, a woman that has since gone into hiding. Imagine his surprise, and horror, when, arriving in Paris, he discovers the dead woman is the witness, who was living in the city under an assumed name. He teams up with a French detective, Fallon Le Rue, with whom he establishes an instant, call it "rapport", and together they are determined to catch this killer, even if it means using Fallon as bait.<br><br>As is typical of this series, the author not only alternates chapters between three points of view, but also creates three storylines that eventually converge. The second point of view and storyline involves the murder of an archeologist, Remy Lafayette. A mysterious woman who knew Remy in Egypt, Alexandra Reed, believes he was murdered by someone looking for a map -- a map to ancient treasure. When Lafayette's niece, Jade, finds her apartment ransacked, she teams up with Alexandra to find the map and, in doing so, to identify Remy's killer.<br><br>The third point of view is that of a private investigator, Marcel Durand, hired by a wealthy shipbuilder, Nicholas Ringer, to help Jade find her uncle's killer.<br><br>This all has the potential to be confusing but the author handles it reasonably well, keeping the chapters relatively short and to the point, moving the various subplots forward at a brisk pace, even giving the characters a change of scenery by moving the action from Paris to Egypt. At times improbable and superficial, and maybe featuring just a few too many snakes (a metaphor, possibly?), it's all finally linked together in a logical, reasonable manner.<br><br>But the book ends on a somewhat ominous note. With <span style="font-style: italic;">Ancient Laws</span> the author seems to be signaling a change, possibly a significant change, to the future direction of the series. The premise for Coventry being in France in the first place is tenuous, and how he spends his time there (at the expense of Denver taxpayers) is rather disturbing, being more interested in, and spending more time lusting after, his French colleague than his stated purpose of pursuing a killer. Though the ending is ever so slightly ambiguous in this regard, it's possible that in the next book in this series (already announced to be <span style="font-style: italic;">Hong Kong Laws</span>), Denver homicide detective Bryson Coventry may not be a Denver homicide detective any more ... a potentially disappointing development for readers. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.</p><p class="std10">Special thanks to Jim Michael Hansen for providing a copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Ancient Laws</span> for this review.</p><p class="std10" style="text-align: center;">Review Copyright &copy; 2009 &mdash; Hidden Staircase Mystery Books &mdash; All Rights Reserved</p><p style="margin: 0px 3px 6px 12px; width: 120px; height: 28px; float: right;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0976924323/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Buy Ancient Laws by Jim Michael Hansen from Amazon.com" alt="Buy from Amazon.com" src="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mystery-reviews-graphics/buy-from-amazon.gif" style="margin: 6px 0px 0px 0px; border: 0px solid transparent; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 120px; height: 28px;"></a></p><p>If you are interested in purchasing <a title="Buy Ancient Laws by Jim Michael Hansen from Amazon.com" style="font-style:italic;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0976924323/?tag=mystery-books-20">Ancient Laws</a> from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right. <a title="Ancient Laws by Jim Michael Hansen (Kindle edition)" style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001U0PCOS/?tag=mystery-books-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Ancient Laws (Kindle edition)</a> is also available. Learn more about the <a title="Learn more about the Kindle from Amazon.com" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00154JDAI/?tag=mystery-books-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Kindle, Amazon's Wireless Reading Device</a>.</p><p class="std10"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Synopsis</span>&nbsp;(from the publisher): Denver homicide detective Bryson Coventry tracks a killer to Paris, expecting a dangerous but straightforward hunt. What he doesn't foresee is that he and a strikingly beautiful French detective would be pulled into a deadly game -- a game that would stretch from Paris to Cairo to the Valley of the Kings; a game rooted in ancient tombs, archeological murders and lost treasures; a game that started thousands of years ago but is not over yet.</p><p>Return to <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/" rel="tag">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-9144691065404380695?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/Tx5AulYEqqg" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/mystery-book-review-ancient-laws-by-jim.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-28021936736216045952009-11-06T10:40:00.000-05:002009-11-06T10:40:40.686-05:002009-11-06T10:40:40.686-05:00<p style="margin: 3px 3px 6px 12px; padding: 0px; width: 150px; height: 225px; float: right;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/039915597X/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img alt="U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton" title="U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 150px; height: 225px;" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/039915597X.01._SCL_SX150_.jpg"></a></p> <p><a href="http://authors.omnimystery.com/grafton-sue.html">Sue Grafton</a>'s 21st Kinsey Millhone mystery, <a rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/039915597X/?tag=mystery-books-20" target="_blank">U is for Undertow</a>, publishes next month and the publisher, Putnam, has graciously provided us with the first chapter to post for our readers.<br> <br> About <span style="font-style: italic;">U is for Undertow</span>: It's April, 1988, a month before Kinsey Millhone's thirty-eighth birthday, and she's alone in her office doing paperwork when a young man arrives unannounced. He has a preppy air about him and looks as if he'd be carded if he tried to buy booze, but Michael Sutton is twenty-seven, an unemployed college dropout. Twenty-one years earlier, a four-year-old girl disappeared. A recent reference to her kidnapping has triggered a flood of memories. Sutton now believes he stumbled on her lonely burial when he was six years old. He wants Kinsey's help in locating the child's remains and finding the men who killed her. It's a long shot but he's willing to pay cash up front, and Kinsey agrees to give him one day. As her investigation unfolds, she discovers Michael Sutton has an uneasy relationship with the truth. In essence, he's the boy who cried wolf. Is his current story true or simply one more in a long line of fabrications?</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&mdash;&nbsp;&loz;&nbsp;&mdash;</p> <p>Wednesday afternoon, April 6, 1988<br> <br> What fascinates me about life is that now and then the past rises up and declares itself. Afterward, the sequence of events seems inevitable, but only because cause and effect have been aligned in advance. It&rsquo;s like a pattern of dominoes arranged upright on a tabletop. With the flick of your finger, the first tile topples into the second, which in turn tips into the third, setting in motion a tumbling that goes on and on, each tile knocking over its neighbor until all of them fall down. Sometimes the impetus is pure chance, though I discount the notion of accidents. Fate stitches together elements that seem un related on the surface. It&rsquo;s only when the truth emerges you see how the bones are joined and everything connects.<br> <br> Here&rsquo;s the odd part. In my ten years as a private eye, this was the first case I ever managed to resolve without crossing paths with the bad guys. Except at the end, of course.<br> <br> My name is Kinsey Millhone. I&rsquo;m a private detective, female, age thirty-seven, with my thirty-eighth birthday coming up in a month. Having been married and divorced twice, I&rsquo;m now happily single and expect to remain so for life. I have no children thus far and I don&rsquo;t anticipate bearing any. Not only are my eggs getting old, but my biological clock wound down a long time ago. I suppose there&rsquo;s always room for one of life&rsquo;s little surprises, but that&rsquo;s not the way to bet.<br> <br> I work solo out of a rented bungalow in Santa Teresa, California, a town of roughly 85,000 souls who generate sufficient crime to occupy the Santa Teresa Police Department, the County Sheriff&rsquo;s Department, the California Highway Patrol, and the twenty-five or so local private investigators like me. Movies and television shows would have you believe a PI&rsquo;s job is dangerous, but nothing could be farther from the truth ... except, of course, on the rare occasions when someone tries to kill me. Then I&rsquo;m ever so happy my health insurance premiums are paid up. Threat of death aside, the job is largely research, requiring intuition, tenacity, and ingenuity. Most of my clients reach me by referral and their business ranges from background checks to process serving, with countless other matters in between. My office is off the beaten path and I seldom have a client appear unannounced, so when I heard a tapping at the door to my outer office, I got up and peered around the corner to see who it was.<br> <br> Through the glass I saw a young man pointing at the knob. I&rsquo;d apparently turned the dead bolt to the locked position when I&rsquo;d come back from lunch. I let him in, saying, &ldquo;Sorry about that. I must have locked up after myself without being aware of it.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;You&rsquo;re Ms. Millhone?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Michael Sutton,&rdquo; he said, extending his hand. &ldquo;Do you have time to talk?&rdquo;<br> <br> We shook hands. &ldquo;Sure. Can I offer you a cup of coffee?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;No, thanks. I&rsquo;m fine.&rdquo;<br> <br> I ushered him into my office while I registered his appearance in a series of quick takes. Slim. Lank brown hair with a sheen to it, worn long on top and cut short over his ears. Solemn brown eyes, complexion as clear as a baby&rsquo;s. There was a prep school air about him: deck shoes without socks, sharply creased chinos, and a short-sleeve white dress shirt he wore with a tie. He had the body of a boy: narrow shoulders, narrow hips, and long, smooth arms. He looked young enough to be carded if he tried to buy booze. I couldn&rsquo;t imagine what sort of problem he&rsquo;d have that would require my services.<br> <br> I returned to my swivel chair and he settled in the chair on the other side of the desk. I glanced at my calendar, wondering if I&rsquo;d set up an appointment and promptly forgotten it.<br> <br> He noticed the visual reference and said, &ldquo;Detective Phillips at the police department gave me your name and address. I should have called first, but your office was close by. I hope this isn&rsquo;t an incon venience.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Not at all,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;My first name&rsquo;s Kinsey, which you&rsquo;re welcome to use. You prefer Michael or Mike?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Most people call me Sutton. In my kindergarten class, there were two other Michaels so the teacher used our last names to distinguish us. Boorman, Sutton, and Trautwein&mdash;like a law firm. We&rsquo;re still friends.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Where was this?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Climp.&rdquo;<br> <br> I said, &ldquo;Ah.&rdquo; I should have guessed as much. Climping Academy is the private school in Horton Ravine, K through 12. Tuition starts at twelve grand for the little tykes and rises incrementally through the upper grades. I don&rsquo;t know where it tops out, but you could probably pick up a respectable college education for the same price. All the students enrolled there referred to it as &ldquo;Climp,&rdquo; as though the proper appellation was just, like, sooo beside the point. Watching him, I wondered if my blue-collar roots were as obvious to him as his upper-class status was to me.<br> <br> We exchanged pleasantries while I waited for him to unload. The advantage of a prearranged appointment is that I begin the first meeting with at least some idea what a prospective client has in mind. People skittish about revealing their personal problems to a stranger often find it easier to do by phone. With this kid, I figured we&rsquo;d have to dance around some before he got down to his business, whatever it was.<br> <br> He asked how long I&rsquo;d been a private investigator. This is a question I&rsquo;m sometimes asked at cocktail parties (on the rare occasion when I&rsquo;m invited to one). It&rsquo;s the sort of blah-blah-blah conversational gambit I don&rsquo;t much care for. I gave him a rundown of my employment history. I skipped over the two lackluster semesters at the local junior college and started with my graduation from the police academy. I then covered the two years I&rsquo;d worked for the Santa Teresa PD before I realized how ill suited I was to a life in uniform. I proceeded with a brief account of my subsequent apprenticeship with a local agency, run by Ben Byrd and Morley Shine, two private investigators, who&rsquo;d trained me in preparation for licensing. I&rsquo;d had my ups and downs over the years, but I spared him the details since he&rsquo;d only inquired as a stalling technique. &ldquo;What about you? Are you a California native?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Yes, ma&rsquo;am. I grew up in Horton Ravine. My family lived on Via Ynez until I went off to college. I lived a couple of other places, but now I&rsquo;m back.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;You still have family here?&rdquo;<br> <br> His hesitation was one of those nearly imperceptible blips that indicates internal editing. &ldquo;My parents are gone. I have two older brothers, both married with two kids each, and an older sister who&rsquo;s divorced. We&rsquo;re not on good terms. We haven&rsquo;t been for years.&rdquo;<br> <br> I let that pass without comment, being better acquainted with family estrangement than I cared to admit. &ldquo;How do you know Cheney Phillips?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t. I went into the police department, asking to speak to a detective, and he happened to be free. When I told him my situation, he said you might be able to help.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Well, let&rsquo;s hope so,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Cheney&rsquo;s a good guy. I&rsquo;ve known him for years.&rdquo; I shut my mouth then and let a silence descend, a stratagem with remarkable powers to make the other guy talk.<br> <br> Sutton touched the knot in his tie. &ldquo;I know you&rsquo;re busy, so I&rsquo;ll get to the point. I hope you&rsquo;ll bear with me. The story might sound weird.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Weird stories are the best kind, so fire away,&rdquo; I said.<br> <br> He looked at the floor as he spoke, making eye contact now and then to see if I was following. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if you saw this, but a couple of weeks ago, there was an article in the newspaper about famous kidnappings: Marion Parker, the twelve-year-old girl who was ab-ducted in 1927; the Lindbergh baby in &rsquo;thirty-two; another kid, named Etan Patz. Ordinarily, I don&rsquo;t read things like that, but what caught my attention was the case here in town ...&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;You&rsquo;re talking about Mary Claire Fitzhugh&mdash;1967.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;You remember her?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Sure. I&rsquo;d just graduated from high school. Little four-year-old girl taken from her parents&rsquo; home in Horton Ravine. The Fitzhughs agreed to pay the ransom, but the money was never picked up and the child was never seen again.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Exactly. The thing is, when I saw the name Mary Claire Fitzhugh, I had this flash&mdash;something I hadn&rsquo;t thought about for years.&rdquo; He clasped his hands together and squeezed them between his knees. &ldquo;When I was a little kid, I was playing in the woods and I came across these two guys digging a hole. I remember seeing a bundle on the ground a few feet away. At the time, I didn&rsquo;t understand what I was looking at, but now I believe it was Mary Claire&rsquo;s body and they were burying her.&rdquo;<br> <br> I said, &ldquo;You actually saw the child?&rdquo;<br> <br> He shook his head. &ldquo;She was wrapped in a blanket, so I couldn&rsquo;t see her face or anything else.&rdquo;<br> <br> I studied him with interest. &ldquo;What makes you think it was Mary Claire? That&rsquo;s a big leap.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Because I went back and checked the old newspaper accounts and the dates line up.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;What dates?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Oh, sorry. I should have mentioned this before. She was kidnapped on July 19, which was a Wednesday. I saw the guys on Friday, July 21, 1967 ... my birthday, the year I turned six. That&rsquo;s how I made the association. I think she was already dead by then and they were getting rid of the body.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;And this was where?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Horton Ravine. I don&rsquo;t know the exact location. My mother had errands to run that day so she dropped me off at some kid&rsquo;s house. I don&rsquo;t remember his name. I guess his mom had agreed to look after me while she was gone. Turns out the other kid woke up with a fever and sore throat. Chicken pox was going around and his mom didn&rsquo;t want me exposed in case that&rsquo;s what it was, so she made him stay in his room while I hung around downstairs. I got bored and asked if I could go outside. She said I could as long as I didn&rsquo;t leave the property. I remember finding this tree with branches that hung down to make a little room, so I played there for a while, pretending I was a bandit in a cool hideout. I heard voices and when I peeped through the leaves, I saw the two guys walk by with shovels and stuff and I followed them.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;What time of day?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Must have been late morning because after I came in again, the kid&rsquo;s mother fed me lunch&mdash;a plain lettuce and tomato sandwich, no bacon, and it was made with Miracle Whip. Our family didn&rsquo;t eat Miracle Whip. My mother wouldn&rsquo;t have it in the house. She said it was disgusting compared to real homemade mayonnaise.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Your mother made mayonnaise?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;The cook did.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Ah.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Anyway, Mom always said it was rude to complain, so I ate what I could and left the rest on my plate. The kid&rsquo;s mom hadn&rsquo;t even cut the crusts off the bread.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a shock,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m impressed your memory&rsquo;s so clear.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Not clear enough or I wouldn&rsquo;t be here. I&rsquo;m pretty sure the two guys I saw were the ones who abducted Mary Claire, but I have no idea where I was. I know I&rsquo;d never been to the house before and I never went there again.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Any chance one of your siblings would remember who the kid was?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I guess it&rsquo;s possible. Unfortunately, we don&rsquo;t get along. We haven&rsquo;t spoken in years.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;So you said.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Sorry. I don&rsquo;t mean to repeat myself. The point is, I can&rsquo;t call them up out of a clear blue sky. Even if I did, I doubt they&rsquo;d talk to me.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;But I could ask, couldn&rsquo;t I? That would be the obvious first move if you&rsquo;re serious about this.&rdquo;<br> <br> He shook his head. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want them involved, especially my sister, Dee. She&rsquo;s difficult. You don&rsquo;t want to mess with her.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;All right. We&rsquo;ll scratch that for now. Maybe the kid&rsquo;s mother was being paid to babysit.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;That wasn&rsquo;t my impression. More like she was doing Mom a favor.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;What about your classmates? Maybe she left you with one of the other moms, like a playdate.&rdquo;<br> <br> Sutton blinked twice. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a possibility I hadn&rsquo;t thought of. I&rsquo;ve kept in touch with the other two Michaels, Boorman and Trautwein, but that&rsquo;s the extent of it. I didn&rsquo;t like anybody else in my kindergarten class and they didn&rsquo;t like me.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t matter if you liked them or not. We&rsquo;re trying to identify the boy.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t remember anyone else.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;It should be easy enough to come up with a list. You must have had class photos. You could go back to the school library and check the &rsquo;67 yearbook.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to go back to Climp. I hate the idea.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a suggestion. So far, we&rsquo;re brainstorming,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Tell me about the two guys. How old would you say?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure. Older than my brothers, who were ten and twelve at the time, but not as old as my dad.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Did they see you?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Not then. I decided to spy on them, but where they ended up was too far away and I couldn&rsquo;t see what they were doing. I sneaked up on them, crawling through the bushes and crouching behind a big oak. It was hot and they were sweating so they&rsquo;d taken off their shirts. I guess I wasn&rsquo;t as quiet as I thought because one of them spotted me and they both jumped. They stopped what they were doing and asked what I wanted.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;You actually talked to them?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Oh, sure. Absolutely. We had this whole conversation. I thought they were pirates and I was all excited about meeting them.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Pirates?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;My mother was reading me Peter Pan at bedtime, and I loved the illustrations. The pirates wore bandanas tied around their heads, which is what the two guys had done.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Beards? Earrings? Eye patches?&rdquo;<br> <br> That netted me a smile, but not much of one. He shook his head. &ldquo;It was the bandanas that reminded me of pirates. I told them I knew that because of Peter Pan.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;What&rsquo;d you talk about?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;First, I asked &rsquo;em if they were pirates for real and they told me they were. The one guy talked more than the other and when I asked what they were doing, he said they were digging for buried treasure &hellip;&rdquo;<br> <br> As Sutton spoke, I could see him regressing to the little boy he&rsquo;d been, earnest and easily impressed. He leaned forward in his chair. &ldquo;I asked if the treasure was gold doubloons, but they said they didn&rsquo;t know because they hadn&rsquo;t found it yet. I asked to see the treasure map and they said they couldn&rsquo;t show me because they were sworn to secrecy. I&rsquo;d seen the bundle on the ground, over by this tree, and when I asked about it, the first guy said it was a bedroll in case they got tired. I offered to help dig, but he told me the job was only for grown-ups and little kids weren&rsquo;t allowed. And then the other one spoke up and asked where I lived. I told them I lived in a white house, but not on this street, that I was visiting. The first guy asked what my name was. I told him and the other one spoke up again and said he thought he heard someone calling me so I better go, which is what I did. The whole exchange couldn&rsquo;t have taken more than three minutes.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t suppose either of them mentioned their names?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;No. I probably should have asked, but it didn&rsquo;t occur to me.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Your recall impresses me. Much of my life at that age is a total blank.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I hadn&rsquo;t thought about the incident for years, but once the memory was triggered, I was right there again. Just like, boom.&rdquo;<br> <br> I reran the story in my mind, trying to digest the whole of it. &ldquo;Tell me again why you think there&rsquo;s a connection to Mary Claire. That still seems like a stretch.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what else to say. Intuition, I guess.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;What about the kidnapping. How did that go down? I remember the broad strokes, but not the particulars.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;The whole thing was horrible. Those poor people. The ransom note said not to contact the police or the FBI, but Mr. Fitzhugh did it anyway. He thought it was the only way to save her, but he was wrong.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;The first contact was the note?&rdquo;<br> <br> Sutton nodded. &ldquo;Later they phoned and said he had one day to get the money together or else. Mr. Fitzhugh had already called the police and they were the ones who contacted the FBI. The special agent in charge convinced him they&rsquo;d have a better chance of nabbing the guys if he and his wife appeared to cooperate, so they advised him to do as he was told ...&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Twenty-five thousand dollars, wasn&rsquo;t it? Somehow the number sticks in my head.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Exactly. The kidnappers wanted it in small bills, packed in a gym bag. They called again and told him where he was supposed to leave the money. He stalled. They must have thought there was a trap on the line because they cut the call short.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;So he dropped off the ransom money and the kidnappers didn&rsquo;t show.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Right. After a day passed, it was clear the FBI had bungled it. They still thought they had a chance, but Mr. Fitzhugh said to hell with them and took matters into his own hands. He notified the newspapers and the radio and TV stations. After the story broke, Mary Claire was all anybody talked about&mdash;my parents and everyone else.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;What day was it by then?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Sunday. Like I said before, she was kidnapped on Wednesday and I saw them on Friday. The paper didn&rsquo;t carry the story until Sunday.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Why didn&rsquo;t you speak up?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I did. I&rsquo;d already done that. When my mother came to get me, I told her about the pirates. I felt guilty. Like I&rsquo;d done something wrong.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;How so?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how to pin it down. I believed what they said about digging for treasure. When you&rsquo;re six, things like that make perfect sense, but on some level I was anxious and I wanted reassurance. Instead, Mom got mad. She said I wasn&rsquo;t supposed to talk to strangers and she made me promise I&rsquo;d never do it again. When we got home, she sent me straight to my room. On Sunday we heard the news about Mary Claire.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;And your mother didn&rsquo;t see the relevance?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I guess not. She never mentioned it and I was too scared to bring it up again. She&rsquo;d already punished me once. I kept my mouth shut so she wouldn&rsquo;t punish me again.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;But it worried you.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;For a while, sure. After that, I put the incident out of my mind. Then I saw Mary Claire&rsquo;s name and it all came back.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Did you ever see either guy again?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think so. Maybe one of them. I&rsquo;m not sure.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;And where would that have been?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t remember. I might have made a mistake.&rdquo;<br> <br> I picked up a pencil and made a mark on the yellow pad lying on my desk. &ldquo;When you explained this to Cheney, what was his response?&rdquo;<br> <br> His shoulder went up in a half-shrug. &ldquo;He said he&rsquo;d check the old case notes, but he couldn&rsquo;t do much more because the information I&rsquo;d given him was too vague. That&rsquo;s when he mentioned you.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Sounds like he was passing the buck.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Actually, what he said was you were like a little terrier when it came to flushing out rats.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Sucking up,&rdquo; I said. Mentally, I was rolling my eyes because Cheney wasn&rsquo;t far off the mark. I liked picking at problems and this was a doozy. &ldquo;What about the house itself? Think you&rsquo;d recognize it if you saw it again?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I doubt it. Right after I read the article, I drove around the old neighborhood, and even the areas I knew well had changed. Trees were gone, shrubs were overgrown, new houses had gone up. Of course, I didn&rsquo;t cover the whole of Horton Ravine, but I&rsquo;m not sure it would have made any difference since I don&rsquo;t have a clear image. I think I&rsquo;d recognize the place in the woods. The house is a blur.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;So twenty-one years later, you&rsquo;re clueless and hoping I can figure out where you were.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Yes, ma&rsquo;am.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;You want me to find an unmarked grave, basically a hole.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Can you do it?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know. I&rsquo;ve never tried before.&rdquo;<br> <br> I studied him, chasing the idea around to see where it might go. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an interesting proposition. I&rsquo;ll give you that.&rdquo;<br> <br> I rocked in my swivel chair, listening to the squeak, while I sifted through the story, wondering what I&rsquo;d missed. There was something more going on, but I couldn&rsquo;t imagine what. Finally, I said, &ldquo;What&rsquo;s your stake in the situation? I know it bothers you, but why to this extent?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know. I mean, the article talked about how the kidnapping ruined Mrs. Fitzhugh&rsquo;s life. She and her husband divorced and he ended up leaving town. She still has no idea what happened to her little girl. She doesn&rsquo;t even know for sure she&rsquo;s dead. If I can help, it seems like the right thing to do.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to cost you,&rdquo; I said.<br> <br> &ldquo;I figured as much.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;What sort of work do you do?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Nothing right now. I lost my job so I&rsquo;m on unemployment.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;What was the job?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I sold advertising for KSPL.&rdquo;<br> <br> KSPL was the local AM station I sometimes tuned in on my car radio when I was tooling around town. &ldquo;How long were you there?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;About a year, maybe a little less.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;What&rsquo;s it mean when you say you &lsquo;lost&rsquo; your job? Were you laid off, downsized, fired, what?&rdquo;<br> <br> He hesitated. &ldquo;The last one.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Fired.&rdquo;<br> <br> He nodded.<br> <br> I waited and when it was clear he had no intention of continuing, I gave him a nudge. &ldquo;Uh, Sutton, I&rsquo;d consider it a courtesy if you&rsquo;d be a bit more forthcoming. Would you care to fill me in?&rdquo;<br> <br> He rubbed his palms on his pants. &ldquo;I said I had a BA from Stanford, but it wasn&rsquo;t really true. I was enrolled and attended classes for a couple of years, but I didn&rsquo;t graduate.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;So you lied on the application?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Look, I know I made a mistake ...&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;That would cover it,&rdquo; I said.<br> <br> &ldquo;But I can&rsquo;t do anything about it now. What&rsquo;s done is done and I just have to move on.&rdquo;<br> <br> I&rsquo;d heard a host of criminals make the same remark, like boosting cars, robbing banks, and killing folks could be brushed aside, a minor stumble on the path of life. &ldquo;Have you given any thought to how you&rsquo;re going to pay me out of your unemployment benefits? We&rsquo;re talking about five hundred bucks a day, plus expenses. Assuming I agree to help, which I haven&rsquo;t.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I have some money set aside. I thought I&rsquo;d write a check for one day&rsquo;s work and we&rsquo;d see how it goes from there.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;A check?&rdquo;<br> <br> A flush tinted his cheeks. &ldquo;I guess that&rsquo;s not such a hot idea.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;You got that right. What&rsquo;s plan B?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re going to be here for a while, I could make a quick run to the bank and bring you cash.&rdquo;<br> <br> I considered the notion. The prime item on my Thursday To Do list was to make a bank deposit and pay bills. I had two reports to write and a few calls to make, but I could shift those to Friday. The job itself might end in folly, but at least when he mentioned &ldquo;the right thing to do,&rdquo; he didn&rsquo;t turn around and ask me to work for free. I wasn&rsquo;t convinced he was right about what he&rsquo;d seen, but Cheney must have considered the story credible or he wouldn&rsquo;t have sent him over to me.<br> <br> &ldquo;Okay. One day, but that&rsquo;s it. And only if you pay me cash in advance. I&rsquo;ll be here until five o&rsquo;clock. That should give you plenty of time.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Great. That&rsquo;s great.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how great it is, but it&rsquo;s the best I can do. When you get back, if I happen to be out, you can stick the money through the mail slot. In the meantime, give me a contact number so I&rsquo;ll know how to reach you.&rdquo;<br> <br> I handed him my yellow pad and watched while he scribbled down his address and telephone number. In return I handed him my business card with my office number and address.<br> <br> He said, &ldquo;I really appreciate this. I don&rsquo;t know what I&rsquo;d have done if you hadn&rsquo;t agreed.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll probably regret it, but what the hell? It&rsquo;s only one day,&rdquo; I said. If I&rsquo;d been listening closely, I&rsquo;d have caught the sound of the gods having a great big old tee-hee at my expense.<br> <br> I said, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re sure you don&rsquo;t want to make the trip up to Climp? It would save you a few bucks.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to. They probably wouldn&rsquo;t talk to me in any event.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I see.&rdquo; I studied him. &ldquo;You want to tell me what&rsquo;s going on here? You can&rsquo;t talk to your siblings and now you can&rsquo;t talk to your prep school pals?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I already told you I didn&rsquo;t have pals. It has more to do with the administration.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;How come?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;There were some difficulties. I had a problem.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Like what, you were expelled?&rdquo; I love stories about flunking and expulsions. With my history of screwups, those are like fairy tales.<br> <br> &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not something I want to get into. It has nothing to do with this.&rdquo; A stubborn note had crept into his voice. &ldquo;You go up there. They&rsquo;ll let you see yearbooks as easily as me.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I doubt it. Educational institutions hate handing over information about their students. Especially with the words &lsquo;private investigator&rsquo; thrown into the mix.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t tell &rsquo;em you&rsquo;re a PI. Think of something else.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t even attend Climping Academy so why would I want to see a yearbook? It makes no sense.&rdquo;<br> <br> He shook his head. &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t do it. I have my reasons.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Which you&rsquo;re not about to share.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Right.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Okay, fine. It&rsquo;s no skin off my nose. If that&rsquo;s how you want to spend your five hundred bucks, I can live with it. I love driving through Horton Ravine.&rdquo;<br> <br> I got up, and as we shook hands again, I realized what was bothering me. &ldquo;One more question.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;What&rsquo;s that?&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;The article came out two weeks ago. Why&rsquo;d you wait so long before you went to the police?&rdquo;<br> <br> He hesitated. &ldquo;I was nervous. All I have is a hunch. I didn&rsquo;t want the police to write me off as a crank.&rdquo;<br> <br> &ldquo;Nuh-uh. That&rsquo;s not all of it. What else?&rdquo;<br> <br> He was silent for a moment, color rising in his cheeks again. &ldquo;What if the guys find out I remembered them? I might have been the only witness and I told them my name. If they&rsquo;re the ones who killed Mary Claire, why wouldn&rsquo;t they kill me?&rdquo;</p> <p style="text-align: center;">&mdash;&nbsp;&loz;&nbsp;&mdash;</p> <p><a rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/039915597X/?tag=mystery-books-20" target="_blank">U is for Undertow</a>&nbsp;will be in bookstores on December 1st, but is available for pre-order now. </p> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-2802193673621604595?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/-Cku-1nGZgQ" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/read-first-chapter-of-next-kinsey.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-44839352131461503312009-11-06T09:46:00.002-05:002009-11-06T09:46:47.734-05:002009-11-06T09:46:47.734-05:00<p style="margin: 3px 3px 6px 12px; padding: 0px; width: 220px; height: 150px; float: right;"><img alt="Cartoon Network" title="Cartoon Network" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 220px; height: 150px;" src="http://mystery-books-news.omnimystery.com/graphics/logo-cartoon-network.jpg"></p> <p><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i7d9cea78ab893444a6be0dd039eb90cd" target="_blank">The Hollywood Reporter</a> is reporting the Cartoon Network has picked up its first two original scripted live-action mystery series: <span style="font-style: italic;">Tower Prep</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Unnatural History</span>. Thirteen hour-long episodes of each have been ordered, with production expected to begin in January 2010.<br> <br> In a July <a target="_blank" href="http://news.turner.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=4548">press release</a> announcing the <span style="font-style: italic;">Tower Prep</span> pilot, Cartoon Network described the series as the story of a rebellious teen, Ian (Drew Van Acker), who wakes up one morning to find himself trapped at a mysterious prep school that offers no escape. He forms a secret group with CJ (Elise Gatien), Gabe (Ryan Pinkston) and Suki (Dyana Liu), intent on discovering what they&rsquo;re being trained for and how to escape.<br> <br> In an August <a href="http://news.turner.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=4589" target="_blank">press release</a> announcing the <span style="font-style: italic;">Unnatural History</span> pilot, Cartoon Network described the series as an action-packed blend of mystery and martial arts. The urban adventure series centers around Henry Griffin (Kevin G. Schmidt), a teenager with exceptional skills acquired through years of globe-trotting with his anthropologist parents. But Henry faces his biggest challenge of all when he moves back to America to attend a high school stranger than any place he's ever lived before.<br> </p> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-4483935213146150331?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/CDjxfIWyPBs" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com1http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/cartoon-network-picks-up-its-first-two.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-53490775311770468162009-11-06T08:29:00.000-05:002009-11-06T08:29:20.491-05:002009-11-06T08:29:20.491-05:00<p style="margin: 3px 3px 6px 12px; padding: 0px; width: 200px; height: 130px; float: right;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/mentalist.html"><img alt="The Mentalist" title="The Mentalist" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 200px; height: 130px;" src="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/graphics-titles/title-mentalist.jpg"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ib5a89ec9373cbe14ece0eb44a875bee7" target="_blank">The Hollywood Reporter</a> is reporting that <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/mentalist.html">The Mentalist</a>, in just its second season on CBS, has been sold in a syndication deal to TNT, with episodes to begin airing in the fall of 2011. <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/tnt-picks-up-crime-drama-series.html">TNT recently picked up <span style="font-style: italic;">Southland</span></a> (after its cancellation by NBC) and also rebroadcasts episodes of many other series including <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/bones.html">Bones</a>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Cold Case</span>, <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/law-order.html">Law &amp; Order</a>, <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/numbers.html">Numb3rs</a>, and <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/without-a-trace.html">Without a Trace</a>. In addition, TNT has been aggressive in developing original crime dramas, recently ordering a pilot for a <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/10/angie-harmon-cast-as-jane-rizzoli-in.html">series based on the Tess Gerritsen mysteries</a>, and a George Clooney produced pilot featuring a <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/10/tnt-orders-george-clooney-produced.html">Memphis cop who moonlights as an Elvis impersonator</a>.<br> <br> Separately, <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i6a7d4a8a91f5bb2a92dc3b032a4864a9">The Hollywood Reporter</a> is reporting that, in what may be an industry record, <span style="font-style: italic;">NCIS: Los Angeles</span> has been sold in a syndication deal to USA Network. <span style="font-style: italic;">NCIS: Los Angeles</span>, a spin-off from the popular <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/ncis.html">NCIS</a>, has aired just seven episodes to date. USA Network will begin airing episodes in September 2011.<br> </p> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-5349077531177046816?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/a8S4_7YIz5U" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/syndication-deals-for-mentalist-and.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-55606782522507028252009-11-06T08:04:00.001-05:002009-11-06T08:05:18.860-05:002009-11-06T08:05:18.860-05:00<p style="margin: 3px 3px 6px 12px; padding: 0px; width: 150px; height: 230px; float: right;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1582342245/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img alt="The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn" title="The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 150px; height: 225px;" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1582342245.01._SCL_SX150_.jpg"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i6a7d4a8a91f5bb2ab39704b43729e213" target="_blank">The Hollywood Reporter</a> is reporting that Bradley Cooper (<span style="font-style: italic;">Alias</span>) has been cast (and replacing Shia LaBeouf) as the lead in <span style="font-style: italic;">Dark Fields</span>, a thriller based on the 2002 novel <a rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1582342245/?tag=mystery-books-20" target="_blank">The Dark Fields</a> by <a href="http://authors.omnimystery.com/glynn-alan.html">Alan Glynn</a>. Neil Burger (<span style="font-style: italic;">The Illusionist</span>) will direct the screenplay adapted by Leslie Dixon (<span style="font-style: italic;">The Thomas Crown Affair</span>). A 2010 release date is expected.<br> <br> About <span style="font-style: italic;">The Dark Fields</span>: Imagine a drug that makes your brain function with perfect efficiency, tapping into your most fundamental resources of intelligence and drive. Imagine a drug that could make you learn a foreign language in a day and seduce a room-full of strangers in a matter of minutes. Imagine a drug that could make you process information so fast you could see patterns in the stock market. Eddie Spinola is on such a drug. It's called MDT-48, a designer drug that's redesigning his life. Eddie's not the only one addicted to MDT, but now that his dealer is dead, he's the only one with a supply. While the drug is helping Eddie make the kind of money he's only dreamed about, he's also beginning to suffer the side effects. Blinding headaches. Violent outbursts. Ominous blackouts. And when Eddie tries to trace the other users, he discovers a terrifying truth.<br> <br> Bradley Cooper is also reportedly the top pick to star as the lead in a series of <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/07/new-film-series-of-matt-helm-spy.html">Matt Helm spy thrillers</a>, currently under development at Paramount. </p> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-5560678252250702825?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/qJ0u8fyZImY" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/bradley-cooper-cast-as-lead-in-dark.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-2595247581142823102009-11-06T05:47:00.001-05:002009-11-06T05:47:00.387-05:002009-11-06T05:47:00.387-05:00<p style="margin: 6px auto 12px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bestsellers.omnimystery.com/"><img title="Bestselling Mystery Books (a weekly list)" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 375px; height: 80px;" alt="Mystery Bestsellers" src="http://bestsellers.omnimystery.com/graphics/bestsellers-news.jpg"></a></p> <p>A list of the top 15 <a href="http://bestsellers.omnimystery.com/" rel="tag">mystery hardcover bestsellers</a> for the week ending November 06, 2009 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.</p> <p>A quiet first week of November, with no new titles entering the top 15. <a href="http://authors.omnimystery.com/brown-dan.html">Dan Brown</a>'s third Robert Langdon thriller, <a rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385504225/?tag=mystery-books-20" target="_blank">The Lost Symbol</a>, retains the top spot for the 7th straight week. For the rest of the top 10, it was just a couple of notches up or down.<br> <br> The rest of November promises to be exciting though, with several new titles by bestselling authors scheduled for publication.</p> <p>The top four mystery bestsellers this week are shown below:</p> <p style="margin: 12px auto; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 360px;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385504225/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Mystery Bestseller 1: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown" alt="The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 90px; height: 130px;" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0385504225.01._SX80_PC_.jpg"></a><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0316166316/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Mystery Bestseller 2: Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly" alt="Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 90px; height: 130px;" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0316166316.01._SX80_PC_.jpg"></a><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0399156399/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Mystery Bestseller 3: The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell" alt="The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 90px; height: 130px;" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0399156399.01._SX80_PC_.jpg"></a><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0399155988/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Mystery Bestseller 4: Rough Country by John Sandford" alt="Rough Country by John Sandford" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 90px; height: 130px;" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0399155988.01._SX80_PC_.jpg"></a></p> <p>Please visit the <a href="http://hsmb.omnimystery.com/">Hidden Staircase Mystery Books</a> where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of <a href="http://hsmb.omnimystery.com/" rel="tag">mystery books</a> with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.</p> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-259524758114282310?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/JkifFbkJ5_M" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/mystery-bestsellers-for-november-06.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-47735811646006246832009-11-05T22:22:00.000-05:002009-11-05T22:22:27.222-05:002009-11-05T22:22:27.222-05:00<p style="margin: 3px 0px 6px 12px; padding: 0px; width: 150px; height: 244px; float: right;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0765312573/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img alt="Button, Button by Richard Matheson" title="Button, Button by Richard Matheson" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 150px; height: 230px;" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0765312573.01._SCL_SX150_.jpg"></a></p> <p><span style="font-style: italic;">The Box</span>, a thriller based on a short story by Richard Matheson, opens tomorrow, Friday November 6th.<br> <br> In <span style="font-style: italic;">The Box</span>, a mysterious man (played by Frank Langella) presents a wooden box with a button to a couple (Cameron Diaz, James Marsden) which, when pressed, does two things: the couple will receive $1 million and someone, somewhere in the world will be killed. The couple has 24 hours to decide whether or not to push the button.<br> <br> <span style="font-style: italic;">Button, Button</span> was first published in Playboy in 1970, and later adapted as an episode for the television series <span style="font-style: italic;">The Twilight Zone</span> in 1986.<br> <br> The film has been heavily promoted on television, but if you haven't seen the commercials, you can watch the trailer below:</p> <div style="margin: 0px auto 18px; text-align: center;" align="center"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://pdl.warnerbros.com/wbmovies/thebox/trailer/TheBox_TRL1A_640.flv" style="margin: 0px auto 12px; text-align: center; display: block; width: 420px; height: 227px;" id="player-thebox1"> </a></div> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.gamesofmystery.com/flowplayer/example/flowplayer-3.0.3.min.js"></script> <script> flowplayer("player-thebox1", "http://www.gamesofmystery.com/flowplayer/flowplayer-3.0.3.swf", { clip: { autoPlay: false, linkWindow: '_blank' } });</script> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-4773581164600624683?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/aR-Q1tw1pxk" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com3http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/box-based-on-short-story-button-button.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-10600071803264555562009-11-05T07:57:00.000-05:002009-11-05T07:57:09.810-05:002009-11-05T07:57:09.810-05:00<p style="margin: 6px auto 12px; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;"><a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/"><img title="Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed games, parties, and vacations" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 375px; height: 80px;" alt="Games of Mystery" src="http://games.omnimystery.com/mystery-games-graphics/banner-games-of-mystery-news.jpg"></a></p> <p><a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/" rel="tag">Games of Mystery</a>, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, and mystery getaway vacations, is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery game from <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Big Fish Games</a> released today. You can find out more about these games by visiting our <a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/games-big-fish-download.html" rel="tag">Mystery Games: Big Fish Download Games</a> page or by clicking on the links provided below.</p> <p style="margin: 3px 12px 6px 9px; float: left; width: 175px;"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/6592/the-return-of-monte-cristo/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank"><img alt="The Return of Monte Cristo" title="Download and Buy The Return of Monte Cristo" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 175px; height: 150px;" src="https://games.bigfishgames.com/en_the-return-of-monte-cristo/the-return-of-monte-cristo_feature.jpg"></a><br> <a style="font-style: italic; font-size: small;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/6592/the-return-of-monte-cristo/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank"><img title="Download and Buy The Return of Monte Cristo" alt="The Return of Monte Cristo" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 6px 0px 0px 6px; padding: 0px; float: right; width: 60px; height: 40px;" src="https://games.bigfishgames.com/en_the-return-of-monte-cristo/the-return-of-monte-cristo_60x40.jpg">Click for more information &rarr;</a></p> <p>The romantic hero Edmond Dante is on a quest to discover Mercedes&rsquo; killer, and bring them to justice, in this gripping hidden object game and a sequel to <span style="font-style: italic;">The Count of Monte Cristo</span>. Explore gorgeous scenes as you piece together valuable clues and solve the murder of Dante&rsquo;s beloved. Travel to Paris while figuring out perplexing puzzles and experiencing an immersive, atmospheric plot.<br> <br> See also the first game in this series, <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/2879/the-count-of-monte-cristo/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313">The Count of Monte Cristo</a>.<br> <br> Also available: <a href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/6595/the-return-of-monte-cristo-strategy-guide/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The Return of Monte Cristo Strategy Guide</a> and <a href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/blog/the-return-of-monte-cristo-walkthrough/?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The Return of Monte Cristo Game Walkthrough</a>.<br> <br> <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/6592/the-return-of-monte-cristo/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">The Return of Monte Cristo</a>, a Big Fish Game Club Exclusive, may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a <a href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/store/gameclub.html?afcode=af67f592a313" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Big Fish Game Club</a> membership. A demonstration version (44.73 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.<br> <br> Watch a preview video below:</p> <div style="margin: 0px auto 18px; text-align: center;" align="center"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://games.bigfishgames.com/en_the-return-of-monte-cristo/en_the-return-of-monte-cristo.flv" style="margin: 0px auto 12px; text-align: center; display: block; width: 400px; height: 300px;" id="player-6592"> </a></div> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.gamesofmystery.com/flowplayer/example/flowplayer-3.0.3.min.js"></script> <script> flowplayer("player-6592", "http://www.gamesofmystery.com/flowplayer/flowplayer-3.0.3.swf", { clip: { autoPlay: false, linkUrl: 'http://www.bigfishgames.com/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313', linkWindow: '_blank' } });</script> <p style="margin: 3px 0px 6px 12px; float: right; width: 80px; height: 80px;"><a href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/store/gameclub.html?afcode=af67f592a313" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; height: 80px; width: 80px;" src="http://www.mygamespace.com/images/banners/gcads_80x80.jpg" alt="gcads_80x80" border="0"></a></p> <p>Other popular games on our <a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/games-big-fish-download.html" rel="tag">download Big Fish Mystery Games</a> page include several <a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/games-agatha-christie.html" rel="tag">Agatha Christie</a> and <a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/games-nancy-drew.html" rel="tag">Nancy Drew</a> games, games in the <a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/games-mystery-case-files.html" rel="tag">Mystery Case Files</a> series and in particular the latest, <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/4294/mystery-case-files-return-to-ravenhearst/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313">Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst</a>, <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/4607/adventure-chronicles-lost-treasures/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Adventure Chronicles: The Search for Lost Treasure</a>, <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/5716/enlightenus/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Enlightenus</a>, <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/4863/cate-west-the-vanishing-files/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Cate West: The Vanishing Files</a>, <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/5802/return-to-mysterious-island-2-minas-fate/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Return to Mysterious Island 2: Mina's Fate</a>, and <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/4554/nick-chase-a-detective-story/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Nick Chase: A Detective Story</a>.<br> <br> Read our new game reviews by Ms. Terri: <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/02/games-of-mystery-review-nancy-drew.html" rel="tag">Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses! (Review)</a>, <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/06/games-of-mystery-review-hardy-boys.html" rel="tag">The Hardy Boys: The Perfect Crime (Review)</a>, <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/07/games-of-mystery-review-enlightenus.html" rel="tag">Enlightenus (Review)</a>, and <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/03/games-of-mystery-review-nick-chase.html" rel="tag">Nick Chase: A Detective Story (Review)</a>.</p> <p style="margin: 12px 0px;">Big Fish Games: Bestsellers<br> <script language="JavaScript" src="http://www.feed2js.org//feed2js.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Frss.bigfishgames.com%2Frss.php%3Fusername%3Dmysterygames%26content%3Dglrank%26type%3D2%26gametype%3Dpc%26local%3Den&amp;num=6&amp;targ=y" type="text/javascript"></script></p> <p style="margin: 12px 0px;">Big Fish Games: New releases<br> <script language="JavaScript" src="http://www.feed2js.org//feed2js.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Frss.bigfishgames.com%2Frss.php%3Fusername%3Dmysterygames%26content%3Dglrelease%26type%3D2%26gametype%3Dpc%26local%3Den&amp;num=6&amp;targ=y" type="text/javascript"></script></p> <p style="margin: 12px 0px 12px -6px; text-align: center;"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://my.bigfishgames.com/index.php?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank"><img style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" src="http://www.mygamespace.com/images/banners/mbfgads_468x60.jpg" alt="mbfgads_468x60" border="0"></a></p> <p>And don't forget to visit <a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/" rel="tag">Games of Mystery</a> for all kinds of mysterious fun!</p> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-1060007180326455556?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/MPRoesz_X4w" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/games-of-mystery-return-of-monte-cristo.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-64103723157161681622009-11-04T16:22:00.002-05:002009-11-04T16:22:50.214-05:002009-11-04T16:22:50.214-05:00<p style="margin: 3px 3px 6px 12px; padding: 0px; width: 225px; height: 146px; float: right;"><img alt="Sherlock Holmes" title="Sherlock Holmes" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 225px; height: 146px;" src="http://mystery-books-news.omnimystery.com/graphics/image-sherlock-holmes.jpg"></p> <p><a href="http://www.mtv.com/videos/movie-trailers/452906/sherlock-holmes.jhtml">MTV.com</a> unveiled an exclusive trailer for the Sherlock Holmes today, one that has considerably more new footage than shown in <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/10/new-trailer-for-sherlock-holmes-movie.html">previous trailers</a> (the most recent of which, a television version, was released just a couple of weeks ago).<br> <br> Robert Downey Jr. stars as Sherlock Holmes with Jude Law as Dr. Watson. The film's screenplay is adapted from a graphic novel story idea by producer Lionel Wigram (<span style="font-style: italic;">Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince</span>), and is directed by Guy Ritchie (<span style="font-style: italic;">Revolver</span>).<br> <br> <span style="font-style: italic;">Sherlock Holmes</span> will be in theaters Christmas Day 2009. Watch the exclusive MTV trailer below:</p> <p style="margin: 12px auto 18px; text-align: center;"><embed src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:452906" width="443" height="276" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashVars="configParams=id%3D1625471%26vid%3D452906%26uri%3Dmgid%3Auma%3Avideo%3Amtv.com%3A452906" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" base="."></embed></p> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-6410372315716168162?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/JEaS8gn78us" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/latest-sherlock-holmes-trailer-debuts.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-41894488230269398722009-11-04T12:29:00.003-05:002009-11-04T12:40:01.322-05:002009-11-04T12:40:01.322-05:00<p style="margin: 6px auto 12px; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;"><a rel="tag" href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/"><img title="Mysterious Reviews: Mysteries Reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: block; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;" alt="Mysterious Reviews" src="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mysterious-reviews-news.jpg"></a></p><p><a href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/">Mysterious Reviews</a>, mysteries reviewed by the <a href="http://hsmb.omnimystery.com/">Hidden Staircase Mystery Books</a>, is publishing a new review of <span style="font-style: italic;">Collision of Evil</span> by John J. Le Beau. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.</p><p style="margin: 9px 3px 6px 12px; float: right; width: 150px; height: 225px;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1933515546/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Collision of Evil by John J. Le Beau" alt="Collision of Evil by John J. Le Beau" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1933515546.01._SCL_SX150_.jpg" style="border: 0px solid transparent; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 150px; height: 225px;"></a></p><p><a rel="tag" style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mystery-book-reviews/le-beau-collision-evil.html">Collision of Evil</a> by <a title="More information about John J. Le Beau including a bibliography of books" href="http://authors.omnimystery.com/le-beau-john-j.html" rel="tag">John J. Le Beau</a><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Non-series</span></p><p class="std10">Oceanview Publishing (Hardcover)<br>ISBN-10: 1-933515-54-6 (1933515546)<br>ISBN-13: 978-1-933515-54-0 (9781933515540)<br>Publication Date: September 2009<br>List Price: $25.95</p><p class="std10"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Review</span>: John J. Le Beau's debut novel, <span style="font-style: italic;">Collision of Evil</span>, is a multi-national, multi-generational thriller that blends historical fact with present day reality.<br><br>CIA operative Robert Hirter travels to Germany following the murder of his brother Charles, found dead after a hike through the Bavarian mountains. What troubles the local police is how inconceivable the crime is. "There are no witnesses, none," Kommissar Franz Waldbaer tells Robert. "The place where the murder took place is entirely unpopulated. No weapon has been recovered. We have no motive." Piece by piece, however, the two men begin to construct the puzzle surrounding Charles Hirter's murder, and in the process uncover a plot to inflict widespread carnage during the soon to be held Oktoberfest in Munich.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Collision of Evil</span> is written in third person omniscient, which can be tricky for a suspense novel. After all, the "dunits" -- who, how, and why -- are known to the reader, leaving little to the imagination. Yet the author handles the narrative exceptionally well, unfolding key plot points in a measured, controlled manner while maintaining a brisk pace (helped, in part, by rather short chapters that frequently alternate points of view).<br><br>Political thrillers often have a complex matrix of interpersonal relationships, but the improbable connection between the men of Nazi Germany in the 1940s and Islamic fundamentalists of today, a central plot point, is handled in a deceptively simple, clever manner here. The number of principal characters is also kept to a minimum, a welcome development. Not only do these factors make reading the book more engaging and enjoyable, it opens it up to potential readers who may shy away from the genre. Finally, the crisply written conclusion is quite suspenseful, a thrilling, as it were, way to end a most satisfying novel.</p><p class="std10">Special thanks to Oceanview Publishing for providing a copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Collision of Evil</span> for this review.</p><p class="std10" style="text-align: center;">Review Copyright &copy; 2009 &mdash; Hidden Staircase Mystery Books &mdash; All Rights Reserved</p><p style="margin: 0px 3px 6px 12px; width: 120px; height: 28px; float: right;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1933515546/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Buy Collision of Evil by John J. Le Beau from Amazon.com" alt="Buy from Amazon.com" src="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mystery-reviews-graphics/buy-from-amazon.gif" style="margin: 6px 0px 0px 0px; border: 0px solid transparent; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 120px; height: 28px;"></a></p><p>If you are interested in purchasing <a title="Buy Collision of Evil by John J. Le Beau from Amazon.com" style="font-style:italic;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1933515546/?tag=mystery-books-20">Collision of Evil</a> from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right. <a title="Collision of Evil by John J. Le Beau (Kindle edition)" style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002MH401O/?tag=mystery-books-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Collision of Evil (Kindle edition)</a> is also available. Learn more about the <a title="Learn more about the Kindle from Amazon.com" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00154JDAI/?tag=mystery-books-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Kindle, Amazon's Wireless Reading Device</a>.</p><p class="std10"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Synopsis</span>&nbsp;(from the publisher): As evening falls against the majestic backdrop of the Bavarian Alps, Charles Hirter, an American tourist, is savagely murdered. In the peace, quiet and pastoral splendor of this magnificent setting, Charles Hirter draws his last breath. Was Charles simply in the wrong place at the wrong time?<br><br>Kommissar Franz Waldbaer, the German detective in charge of the case, faces an investigation that yields neither clues nor suspects nor motives. A gruff, go-it alone detective, Waldbaer is dismayed by the arrival of Robert Hirter, the victim's brother, who insists on joining the investigation. But there is more to Robert than meets the eye.<br><br>As Robert and the Kommissar uncover a nefarious nexus of evil past and evil present, they find themselves probing dark, long-forgotten episodes from the Third Reich in order to identify the present threat.<br><br>Thrust into a violent world of fanatic passions, malevolent intentions and excruciating urgency, Robert Hirter and Kommissar Waldbaer must race against the clock to stop a sophisticated, covert, and deadly plot.</p><p>Return to <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/" rel="tag">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-4189448823026939872?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/qL8z-7RBslg" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/mystery-book-review-collision-of-evil.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-76606858195934136592009-11-04T09:47:00.000-05:002009-11-04T09:47:15.567-05:002009-11-04T09:47:15.567-05:00<p style="margin: 3px 3px 6px 12px; padding: 0px; width: 250px; height: 204px; float: right;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313"><img alt="NovemberFest at Big Fish Games" title="NovemberFest at Big Fish Games" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 250px; height: 204px;" src="http://mystery-books-news.omnimystery.com/graphics/image-big-fish-games-novemberfest.jpg"></a></p> <p>Earn free games during NovemberFest at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Big Fish Games</a>!<br> <br> It's easy: Buy any 6 games during November 2009 and receive a free credit for an additional game. If you buy 9 games, you'll get 2 free credits! Every game on the site is eligible, but only purchases made by 11:59 PM on November 30th count!<br> <br> No coupon code is required. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Big Fish Games</a> will keep track of your purchases and issue your credit(s) in early December.<br> <br> Fans of mystery games can visit our page on <a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/games-big-fish-download.html">Games of Mystery for a complete list of all mystery- and suspense-themed adventure and hidden object games</a> available from <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Big Fish Games</a>.</p> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-7660685819593413659?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/HRI5EJXb4g8" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/purchase-games-during-november-from-big.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-50636960267507771492009-11-04T07:18:00.002-05:002009-11-04T07:18:44.197-05:002009-11-04T07:18:44.197-05:00<p style="margin: 6px auto 12px; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;"><a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/"><img title="Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed games, parties, and vacations" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 375px; height: 80px;" alt="Games of Mystery" src="http://games.omnimystery.com/mystery-games-graphics/banner-games-of-mystery-news.jpg"></a></p> <p><a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/" rel="tag">Games of Mystery</a>, your source for mystery-themed electronic and board games, parties for kids and adults, and mystery getaway vacations, is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery game from <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Big Fish Games</a> released today. You can find out more about these games by visiting our <a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/games-big-fish-download.html" rel="tag">Mystery Games: Big Fish Download Games</a> page or by clicking on the links provided below.</p> <p style="margin: 3px 12px 6px 9px; float: left; width: 175px;"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/6586/wisegal/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank"><img alt="Wisegal" title="Download and Buy Wisegal" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 175px; height: 150px;" src="https://games.bigfishgames.com/en_wisegal/wisegal_feature.jpg"></a><br> <a style="font-style: italic; font-size: small;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/6586/wisegal/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank"><img title="Download and Buy Wisegal" alt="Wisegal" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 6px 0px 0px 6px; padding: 0px; float: right; width: 60px; height: 40px;" src="https://games.bigfishgames.com/en_wisegal/wisegal_60x40.jpg">Click for more information &rarr;</a></p> <p>Take the role of Patty Montanari, a real life Mafia mom, who, fearing the influence of the "family" on her children, flees to Florida to start over. When her son Nino returns to Brooklyn under mysterious circumstances she struggles to track down her son from the world of the Wiseguys. Tough out 24 hidden object levels and follow the clues as they guide you through and the Mafia underworld. Use your rusty "Wisegal" wits to piece together evidence and save your family!<br> <br> The storyline in the game acts as a sequel to the Lifetime original made-for-television movie <span style="font-style: italic;">Wisegal</span>, upon which the game is based.<br> <br> <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/6586/wisegal/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Wisegal</a> may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a <a href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/store/gameclub.html?afcode=af67f592a313" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Big Fish Game Club</a> membership. A demonstration version (65.47 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.<br> <br> Watch a preview video below:</p> <div style="margin: 0px auto 18px; text-align: center;" align="center"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://games.bigfishgames.com/en_wisegal/en_wisegal.flv" style="margin: 0px auto 12px; text-align: center; display: block; width: 400px; height: 300px;" id="player-6586"> </a></div> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.gamesofmystery.com/flowplayer/example/flowplayer-3.0.3.min.js"></script> <script> flowplayer("player-6586", "http://www.gamesofmystery.com/flowplayer/flowplayer-3.0.3.swf", { clip: { autoPlay: false, linkUrl: 'http://www.bigfishgames.com/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313', linkWindow: '_blank' } });</script> <p style="margin: 3px 0px 6px 12px; float: right; width: 80px; height: 80px;"><a href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/store/gameclub.html?afcode=af67f592a313" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; height: 80px; width: 80px;" src="http://www.mygamespace.com/images/banners/gcads_80x80.jpg" alt="gcads_80x80" border="0"></a></p> <p>Other popular games on our <a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/games-big-fish-download.html" rel="tag">download Big Fish Mystery Games</a> page include several <a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/games-agatha-christie.html" rel="tag">Agatha Christie</a> and <a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/games-nancy-drew.html" rel="tag">Nancy Drew</a> games, games in the <a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/games-mystery-case-files.html" rel="tag">Mystery Case Files</a> series and in particular the latest, <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/4294/mystery-case-files-return-to-ravenhearst/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313">Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst</a>, <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/4607/adventure-chronicles-lost-treasures/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Adventure Chronicles: The Search for Lost Treasure</a>, <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/5716/enlightenus/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Enlightenus</a>, <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/4863/cate-west-the-vanishing-files/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Cate West: The Vanishing Files</a>, <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/5802/return-to-mysterious-island-2-minas-fate/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Return to Mysterious Island 2: Mina's Fate</a>, and <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/4554/nick-chase-a-detective-story/index.html?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank">Nick Chase: A Detective Story</a>.<br> <br> Read our new game reviews by Ms. Terri: <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/02/games-of-mystery-review-nancy-drew.html" rel="tag">Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses! (Review)</a>, <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/06/games-of-mystery-review-hardy-boys.html" rel="tag">The Hardy Boys: The Perfect Crime (Review)</a>, <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/07/games-of-mystery-review-enlightenus.html" rel="tag">Enlightenus (Review)</a>, and <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/03/games-of-mystery-review-nick-chase.html" rel="tag">Nick Chase: A Detective Story (Review)</a>.</p> <p style="margin: 12px 0px;">Big Fish Games: Bestsellers<br> <script language="JavaScript" src="http://www.feed2js.org//feed2js.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Frss.bigfishgames.com%2Frss.php%3Fusername%3Dmysterygames%26content%3Dglrank%26type%3D2%26gametype%3Dpc%26local%3Den&amp;num=6&amp;targ=y" type="text/javascript"></script></p> <p style="margin: 12px 0px;">Big Fish Games: New releases<br> <script language="JavaScript" src="http://www.feed2js.org//feed2js.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Frss.bigfishgames.com%2Frss.php%3Fusername%3Dmysterygames%26content%3Dglrelease%26type%3D2%26gametype%3Dpc%26local%3Den&amp;num=6&amp;targ=y" type="text/javascript"></script></p> <p style="margin: 12px 0px 12px -6px; text-align: center;"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://my.bigfishgames.com/index.php?afcode=af67f592a313" target="_blank"><img style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" src="http://www.mygamespace.com/images/banners/mbfgads_468x60.jpg" alt="mbfgads_468x60" border="0"></a></p> <p>And don't forget to visit <a href="http://games.omnimystery.com/" rel="tag">Games of Mystery</a> for all kinds of mysterious fun!</p> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-5063696026750777149?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/2PjPh4jPnuE" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/games-of-mystery-wisegal-new-from-big.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-58992138154953328382009-11-03T21:24:00.000-05:002009-11-03T21:24:30.591-05:002009-11-03T21:24:30.591-05:00<p style="margin: 6px auto 12px; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;"><a rel="tag" href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/"><img title="Mysterious Reviews: Mysteries Reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books" style="border: 0px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: block; text-align: center; width: 375px; height: 80px;" alt="Mysterious Reviews" src="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mysterious-reviews-news.jpg"></a></p><p><a href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/">Mysterious Reviews</a>, mysteries reviewed by the <a href="http://hsmb.omnimystery.com/">Hidden Staircase Mystery Books</a>, is publishing a new review of <span style="font-style: italic;">Loot the Moon</span> by Mark Arsenault. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.</p><p style="margin: 9px 3px 6px 12px; float: right; width: 150px; height: 225px;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312555768/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Loot the Moon by Mark Arsenault" alt="Loot the Moon by Mark Arsenault" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0312555768.01._SCL_SX150_.jpg" style="border: 0px solid transparent; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 150px; height: 225px;"></a></p><p><a rel="tag" style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mystery-book-reviews/arsenault-loot-moon.html">Loot the Moon</a> by <a title="More information about Mark Arsenault including a bibliography of books" href="http://authors.omnimystery.com/arsenault-mark.html" rel="tag">Mark Arsenault</a><br><span style="font-style: italic;">A Billy Povich Mystery</span></p><p class="std10">St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)<br>ISBN-10: 0-312-55576-8 (0312555768)<br>ISBN-13: 978-0-312-55576-4 (9780312555764)<br>Publication Date: October 2009<br>List Price: $24.99</p><p class="std10"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Review</span>: Former investigative reporter, now a writer of obituaries, Billy Povich is asked by his old friend Martin Smothers to look into the murder of a judge in <span style="font-style: italic;">Loot the Moon</span>, the second mystery in this series by Mark Arsenault.<br><br>Smothers is known to his colleagues as the "Patron Lawyer of Hopeless Causes". Says something about the case he hires Billy to investigate. Superior Court Judge Gilbert Harmony was, according to official police documents, killed when he interrupted a thief in an attempted robbery of his home. The thief didn't get away, though; he was killed in a car crash during his escape. Smothers doesn't believe it, though. A small time crook wouldn't risk killing a judge. His theory is that someone paid the thief to do it. When Billy begins his investigation, he immediately comes across more than one person who would have a strong motive for murder. There is a mobster who threatened the judge when he imposed a very stiff sentence on his son, the judge's alcoholic brother who lived in Harmony's shadow and is jealous of his accomplishments and lifestyle, and, of course, Harmony's wife, who had recently found out about his mistress and condo in New York City. Any of these people would have ample money to hire a hit-man ... but did they?<br><br>The mystery plot of <span style="font-style: italic;">Loot the Moon</span> is well developed, but what elevates the story above a mere whodunit is the character of Billy Povich. Three generations of men live in his small house. Billy's father is on dialysis three days a week to keep him alive, but he wants to quit. He just wants to die. Billy is also a single father to his son Bo since the death of his ex-wife. He wants to do right by his father, but also set an example for his son. His situation becomes infinitely more complex when, during an investigation that zeroes in on the truth, a killer sets his sights on his family.<br><br>Arsenault blends the right amount of suspense, compassion, humor, investigative prowess and deductive reasoning into <span style="font-style: italic;">Loot the Moon</span>, a book that can simply be described as a first-rate mystery.</p><p class="std10">Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of <a href="http://www.betzreview.com/" style="font-style: italic;">The Betz Review</a> for contributing her review of <span style="font-style: italic;">Loot the Moon</span> and to St. Martin's Minotaur for providing a copy of the book for this review.</p><p class="std10" style="text-align: center;">Review Copyright &copy; 2009 &mdash; Hidden Staircase Mystery Books &mdash; All Rights Reserved</p><p style="margin: 0px 3px 6px 12px; width: 120px; height: 28px; float: right;"><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312555768/?tag=mystery-books-20"><img title="Buy Loot the Moon by Mark Arsenault from Amazon.com" alt="Buy from Amazon.com" src="http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mystery-reviews-graphics/buy-from-amazon.gif" style="margin: 6px 0px 0px 0px; border: 0px solid transparent; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 120px; height: 28px;"></a></p><p>If you are interested in purchasing <a title="Buy Loot the Moon by Mark Arsenault from Amazon.com" style="font-style:italic;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312555768/?tag=mystery-books-20">Loot the Moon</a> from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.</p><p class="std10"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Synopsis</span>&nbsp;(from the publisher): Former journalist and beaten-down gambler Billy Povich returns to aid Martin Smothers, the Patron Lawyer of Hopeless Causes.<br><br>Martin’s old law partner, the well-respected superior court judge Gilbert Harmony, has been shot by a thief who dies in a car crash. The cops close the case, but Martin doesn’t believe a two-bit shoplifter would suddenly kill a judge -- somebody must have paid him to do it.<br><br>The suspects range from a vengeful mobster to a jealous brother to the judge's widow, and -- oops -- his mistress and her son. And as Billy comes closer to the truth, it isn't long before the killer takes aim at him.</p><p>Return to <a href="http://www.mystery-books.com/" rel="tag">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-5899213815495332838?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/MIYq1q9LIEw" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/mystery-book-review-loot-moon-by-mark.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285327832119375741.post-71947473387898473552009-11-03T19:42:00.000-05:002009-11-03T19:42:56.194-05:002009-11-03T19:42:56.194-05:00<p style="margin: 3px 3px 6px 12px; padding: 0px; width: 188px; height: 200px; float: right;"><img alt="Diagnosis: Murder" title="Diagnosis: Murder" style="border: 0px solid ; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 188px; height: 200px;" src="http://mystery-books-news.omnimystery.com/graphics/image-diagnosis-murder.jpg"></p> <p>In a press release today, <a href="http://www.merscom.com/news/cbs-consumer-products-merscom-team-on-diagnosis-murder-casual-game_37.html" target="_blank">Merscom Games</a> announced that it is developing a casual game based on the CBS series <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/diagnosis-murder.html">Diagnosis: Murder</a>. The downloadable game, expected to be available in late 2010, will be published for both Windows-based PCs and Macintoshes.<br> <br> In the game, the player is a young doctor who helps Dr. Sloan solve a series of murders. The game uses classic hidden object gameplay coupled with adventure elements.<br> <br> Merscom Games is also the publisher of another tie-in series game, <a style="font-style: italic;" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001L5TJ64/?tag=mystery-books-20" target="_blank">Blood Ties</a> based on the Lifetime paranormal drama <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/blood-ties.html">Blood Ties</a>, which features private investigator Vicki Nelson and is based on the novels by Tanya Huff.<br> <br> Another CBS series getting a casual game is <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://tvmysteries.omnimystery.com/criminal-minds.html">Criminal Minds</a>. Last week, <a href="http://www.legacyinteractive.com/li/articles/index.php?section=pressrelease&amp;article=72_10292009.php" target="_blank">Legacy Interactive</a> announced they have signed a licensing agreement with CBS Consumer Products to develop a video game based on the popular crime drama series.<br> <br> In the <span style="font-style: italic;">Criminal Minds</span> game, players delve into the criminal mind with clever puzzles and immersive hidden object gameplay. The game will include characters and themes taken directly from the hit television series. In the game, fans will be able to take on the role of different members of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) to solve a series of five shocking crimes. In order to track down the killers and solve each case, players will need to examine crime scenes for clues, interview witnesses and suspects, analyze evidence and build a profile based on real-life criminal profiling techniques.<br> <br> The release date of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Criminal Minds</span> games is also expected to be late 2010.<br> <br> A Legacy Interactive casual game based on the CBS series <span style="font-style: italic;">Murder, She Wrote</span> is scheduled for release this month.</p> <p>Return to <a rel="tag" href="http://www.mystery-books.com/">Mystery Books News</a> ...</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4285327832119375741-7194747338789847355?l=www.mystery-books.com'/></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mysterybooks/~4/Dfy9w8cw8OI" height="1" width="1"/>Omnimysteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095682686415338438info@omnimystery.com0http://www.mystery-books.com/2009/11/diagnosis-murder-and-criminal-minds-to.html