Hi everyone! We hope this issue will help you solve those thorny gift-giving dilemmas of the season. Our Mystery Scene Holiday Gift Guide is going to be an annual feature -- it was a blast to edit!

Calling All Collectors

In his latest newsletter, author Larry Block has news to gladden a collector's heart. "Last month we did some housecleaning here and wound up listing six manuscripts of mine on eBay. I didn't know what they were worth, and figured I'd let supply and demand fight it out. I was pleased enough with the results to open a few more boxes, and I've put together an interesting assortment -- some book-length manuscripts, a short story, a couple of introductions, and a manuscript abridged for audio. No reserve on any of these, and they've all got a starting bid of $1 -- though I have a feeling they may wind up a little higher than that."

Yes, they probably will. A quick visit to eBay showed that the manuscript and page proofs of Hitman, the first Keller novel, had twelve bidders who had pushed the price over $200 with six days left until the auction ended.

Jupiter Jones & Company

Here's a nice deal for some alert publisher. Variety noted recently that a German company, Studio Hamburg Intl. Production, is developing a film and TV franchise based on the kids mystery series The Three Investigators. Both Brian and I have fond memories of the horizontally-challenged but very brainy Jupiter Jones, and his pals Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews. The investigators worked out of a secret office trailer hidden in a salvage yard and solved mysteries in a recognizable adult world. (As opposed to, say, the Hardy Boys.)

The book series created by the late Robert Arthur has long been out of print in the U.S. but still sells like gangbusters in Germany. The film is set to shoot next year.

Out With A Smile

This from author Meg Chittenden: "An old joke I like is about the writer who wrote a publisher asking 'How much do you pay for a hundred thousand words?' And the publisher wrote back saying, 'Which words?'"

Happy holidays and best wishes for a criminally entertaining 2004.

-- Kate Stine, Editor-in-chief