Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently submitted some summer book suggestions to https://www.nextavenue.org/summer-reading-titles-shine/. Patricia Corrigan asked five independent booksellers for their summer recommendations in her article, “Summer Reading Titles Shine.” Peters said I could include her suggestions here. You’ll want to check the Webstore for those books. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
“Barbara Peters knows something about murder mysteries. As a retirement hobby, in October 1989 she opened The Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, Arizona. Then, in 1997, with her husband Robert Rosenwald, Peters established Poisoned Pen Press, which has won numerous Raven and Quill Awards from the Mystery Writers of America.”
“I began The Poisoned Pen as a tiny mystery bookstore, but today it’s broadened out into mostly fiction, including classics, romance, fantasy and sci-fi,” Peters told Next Avenue. The shop presents almost 600 author events a year, most of them available for live-streaming.
Peters’ top pick for summer reading is “The Blue Horse: A Porter Beck Mystery” by Bruce Borgos. Peters said the book offers “a briskly paced and surprising plot, once again stretching beyond local borders.”
Peters also likes “Nightshade” by Michael Connelly, an author who has been hailed by Real Book Spy as “the undisputed master of the modern crime novel.” The book introduces a new detective, Peters said, “whose beat is Catalina Island, a low-key posting — until it isn’t.”
The Thursday Murder Club Reconvenes
Laurie King’s new book “Knave of Diamonds” is “a new chapter in the story of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes that embroils Russell in the infamous disappearance of the Irish Crown Jewels from an impregnable safe in Dublin Castle after her black-sheep Uncle Jake knocks at the couple’s door,” said Peters. “Vivid characters, reliable history and a strong plot, compellingly written, characterize this long-running series.”
For later this summer, Peters urged readers to watch for “You Belong Here” by Megan Miranda, due out July 29, and also the paperback edition of “Last Seen” by J.T. Ellison, available August 1. Peters reported, “These two authors reliably thrust strong women into danger!”