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In 2018, Cobra Clutch, A.J. Devlin’s debut mystery, was released. It went on to win the Canadian award, the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel. Since the second “Hammerhead” Jed Ounstead mystery, Rolling Thunder, is released May 15, I thought I’d introduce you to the author, by asking A.J. to sit “In the Hot Seat”. You can order Devlin’s books through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2yBPfiZ Thank you, A.J.

A.J., would you introduce yourself to readers?

My name is A.J. Devlin and I am a Canadian crime writer living in Vancouver, which is the city I write about. In my twenties I moved to Southern California for six years where I earned my B.F.A. in Screenwriting from Chapman University and my M.F.A. in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute. After moving back to Vancouver I left screenwriting behind in order to pursue a career as an author before finding a home with my amazing Canadian publisher NeWest Press. When not writing I keep very busy as a married stay-at-home dad raising two children.

Would you introduce us to “Hammerhead” Jed Ounstead?

“Hammerhead” Jed Ounstead is an ex-professional wrestler turned detective working in Vancouver. In Cobra Clutch, he is reluctantly drawn back into the world of independent professional wrestling when someone kidnaps his former tag-team partner’s precious pet python and his old friend ““ who Jed owes ““ asks him for his help. Jed’s a strapping and muscular guy, stubborn and hard-headed (pun intended), but he also has a big heart and a strong moral compass. Jed is often aided on his investigations by his cousin Declan St. James, a former IRA operative turned bartender at his family’s Irish pub, as well as his father, a retired Vancouver Police Department legend who now runs a private investigation business. Jed earned the nickname “Hammerhead” back in his wrestling days due to his penchant for breaking a 2×4 piece of Western red cedar over his head in the wrestling ring after winning a match.

Tell us about Rolling Thunder without spoilers, please.

Rolling Thunder is the sequel to Cobra Clutch and picks up about nine months after the events of the first book. Jed is now working as a licensed private investigator on a provisional basis under his father’s supervision. A former lady wrestler named Stormy Daze, who Jed encountered during his investigation in the first book, has since left the squared circle behind and joined a women’s flat-track roller derby team. With playoffs around the corner, their roller derby coach goes missing. After filing a missing person’s report with the Police, the team decides to take it a step further and pool their money in order to hire a private investigator. Stormy tells her teammates that she knows just the guy.

OK, I’ll admit I’m a fan of Declan’s. Would you introduce us to him as well?

Declan is more than just a former IRA badass and bartender. He’s also a livewire and a bit of a hothead. He says what he wants, does what he wants, whenever he damn well feels like it. Declan is pure id. He’s also a major source of comic relief in the “Hammerhead” Jed series and often has some peculiar and quirky tastes which come up as he tags along from time to time on Jed’s investigations. But he’s deadly in a fight, loves his cousin dearly, and always has his back.

Why the worlds of pro wrestling and roller derby?

I have long been a fan of the athlete / detective subgenre in crime fiction. As a result, I have read dozens of mysteries about boxer-detectives, surfer-detectives, hockey player-detectives, sports agent-detectives, etc. ““ but as far as I could tell no one had ever written about a pro wrestler-detective ““ so I saw an opportunity. It also didn’t hurt that growing up I was a huge pro wrestling fan, and that later in my college years I became fascinated with documentaries and biographies detailing the dark side of sports entertainment. That dichotomy ““ the over-the-top in-ring antics and the tragic fates that often befell the pro wrestlers outside the ring ““ seemed like an exciting and unique sandbox in which to set a mystery-comedy series.

With regards to why I chose the world of women’s flat-track roller derby as the setting for Rolling Thunder, well, that pretty much wrote itself. The idea for the series was always for Jed to continually find himself pulled into fringe sports or unique subcultures while working his cases. It’s safe to say that I’m drawn to the quirky and offbeat, and I think the narrative possibilities of a former professional wrestler having to navigate his way through foreign terrain while working as a private investigator are endless. As far as women’s flat-track roller derby goes, it is one hell of a fun, badass, estrogen-charged, counter-culture sport, which was something I really wanted to showcase. Also, having a character who Jed had encountered in Cobra Clutch reach out to him for help after having transitioned from pro wrestling to roller derby seemed both believable and a fun way to kick off another adventure.

Can you give us a clue what Jed will be involved with in the next book?

I can indeed! This is a bit of an exclusive as I haven’t shared this with many people yet, but in book three of the “Hammerhead” Jed series our hardheaded detective will find himself getting caught up in the bloody and bone-crunching world of mixed martial arts after he is hired by a former ufc fighter and dojo owner to find a stolen championship belt. With his wrestling background, Jed is used to always being the biggest, toughest guy in the room, so I wanted to explore what it would be like for him to go up against guys that are such dangerous fighters that Jed’s usual physical advantage is negated.

Cobra Clutch, the book that introduced Jed, won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel. Do you remember what you were doing when you learned you were nominated for an award for your debut?

All across the country Crime Writers Of Canada puts on multiple Arthur Ellis Award nomination events, where there is a panel of Canadian crime writers discussing a different theme or topic followed by the panelists opening the envelopes and revealing the nominees. I wasn’t on the panel that night but attended the event, so I was in the audience when they read out the nominees for Best First Novel, and, needless to say, hearing Cobra Clutch being announced was an absolute thrill.

Let’s talk about one of my favorite places, Ireland. What do you enjoy seeing/doing when you visit?

Oh man, where to start?!? I’ve only been able to visit Ireland once but I went for about a week and it was incredible. Of course, Dublin is a total blast and always a fun stop. My wife and I rented a car and drove cross country to Galway staying in bed and breakfasts along the way, which is one of the best ways to see the countryside. After Galway we headed north to Donegal and spent a night at the gorgeous and historic Loughe Eske Castle. We then drove to the (almost) one street town of Derrygonnelly where my grandmother was born so that was an amazing place for me to visit. After that we drove to Ballymena, where I still have relatives on my father’s side, before ending our trip with a couple of nights in Belfast.

I have plans for a Declan-centric novel in the “Hammerhead” Jed series which will see the boys head home to the motherland and the mystery be related to Declan’s IRA past, however, it’s still a couple of books away and will definitely require me to visit Ireland again for research (and more fun!).

You worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood. Any stories you can tell about that experience? If you can’t tell any stories, why did you move back to British Columbia?

After graduating with my M.F.A. in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute I was able to extend my student visa for a year and work in the industry in which I had studied. During this time I worked for an Academy Award nominated producer, was hired to write treatments, do rewrites, pitch directors, etc. I also co-wrote several screenplays with my late professor and mentor Leonard Schrader, but despite all the projects I had on the go I wasn’t able to get any into development, which was frustrating. I decided to move home and try to break into the Canadian film and television industry, but to no avail. Eventually, I was so burned out I decided to put screenwriting on the back burner and finally heed my professor’s advice and take a crack at writing a mystery novel. Several years and multiple drafts later Cobra Clutch was the result and I haven’t looked back since.

Happy reading everyone!

*****

Here is the summary of Rolling Thunder as it appears in the Web Store.

Former pro wrestler “Hammerhead” Jed Ounstead, now a fully-fledged private investigator, is riding high after his first successful case. In this second episode, Jed leaves the wrestling realm to enter a new arena: women’s flat-track roller derby. When old acquaintance Stormy Daze seeks his help finding her team’s missing coach, Jed discovers that the turnbuckle-and-metal-chair mayhem of the wrestling ring pales in comparison to roller derby’s four-wheeled ferocity.

As his search intensifies, Jed is drawn into the criminal orbit of a shady entrepreneur who doubles as a late-night TV personality, a high-class bookmaker with a yen for racing dachshunds, and a kinky painter with a special technique for producing art. When the thunder rolls, Jed finds he needs more than a few of his beloved banana milkshakes to solve this case.

Rolling Thunder continues A.J. Devlin’s hard-hitting, award-winning mystery series with its unbeatable one-two punch of over-the-top-rope humour and elbow-to-the-face adventure.

Lisa Unger’s been quite busy during the social isolation. I know she has been hosting some virtual book programs. I’m grateful she made time to write a book “Distractions” post.

Although her most recent book, The Stranger Inside, was released last September, it will be out in paperback in August. Then, her next hardcover, Confessions on the 7:45, is scheduled for an October release. You can order her books, or pre-order the new one, at the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2WQJrKs

Lisa Unger is the NYT bestselling author of 18 novels. Her books are published in 26 languages, with millions of readers worldwide. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations, an honor held by only a few writers including Agatha Christie. Her work has been voted “Best of the Year” or top picks by Today, People, GMA, EW, Amazon, IndieBound and many others. She has written for the NYT, WSJ, NPR, and Travel+Leisure. She lives in Florida with her family.

Here’s Lisa Unger’s Distractions. Find her book selections in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

*****

All writers are readers first. It is where we fall in love with story, in the pages of someone else’s book. I have never stopped looking for that reader joy, the moment when you open a brand new book (the feel of paper, that beautiful scent of ink!), read the first few paragraphs, and feel that little zap of excitement: Wow! This is going to be so great! I have — maybe we all have — needed that so much during these challenging and frightening times.

Last year I shared a stage with Laura Lippman  and she said something that resonated with me. She had managed to preserve her life as a reader, that she read only the books she truly wanted to read just for herself.  And I realized that with all the books I read for research and for endorsement, that I sometimes postpone reading things that I want to read — just because. So I vowed to change that. Here are a few books that truly transported me during this moment of chaos and gave me a much-needed zap of reader joy.

WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING

By Delia Owens

I was a bit late to this party. Frankly, I often assume that I’m not going to love the books that other people love — because I have an appetite for big, weird stories, flawed, not-necessarily-likable characters, quirky settings, and complicated outcomes. And those kinds of books don’t often have mass appeal.

I happened to meet author Delia Owens prior to the publication of this runaway bestseller and found her to be lovely and so kind, but I didn’t get around to reading her book until much later. WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING is lyrical and strange, a deep dive into character, a love song to the natural world, and a prescient exploration of isolation. If you’re looking for something to transport you to another place and time, as well as a mystery wrapped inside a sometimes painful love story, open this book and delve into Kya’s world. You won’t be eager to leave, and you might learn something while you’re there.

MY SISTER THE SERIAL KILLER

By Oyinkan Braithwaite

Oyinkan Braithwaite recorded a “shelfie,” a video for the UK bookseller Waterstones, and she cited Jane Eyre and Great Expectations as early inspirations in her writing life. I can see the influences of both of those beloved stories in this twisting, darkly funny, moving, character-driven thriller. Korede is getting a little tired of her sister Ayoola and really who wouldn’t? Not only is Ayoola “the pretty one,” she’s also flighty, selfish, and constantly calling on Korede, a hard-working nurse, to clean up her messes. Oh. And she’s a serial killer, systematically offing her boyfriends for various — sometimes almost understandable — reasons.

Everything about this book is transporting — Korede’s voice, the setting, the funny, complicated relationship between the two sisters, Korede’s struggle to find herself, the sisters’ traumatic past. All the pieces are expertly woven creating an utterly immersive reading experience. This story takes place in Nigeria, but the themes are universal, asking probing, questions about love, sisterhood, and how far we’ll go to protect our family, and, in the end, offering complicated, all-too-human answers.

LITTLE SECRETS

by Jennifer Hillier

I loved Jennifer’s Jar of Hearts, a dark and twisty thrill ride with a bottle rocket of an ending, and she has only grown as a writer since then. This book begins with a gut-punch of an opener, a vivid detailing of every parent’s worst nightmare when a young mother lets go of her son’s hand in a busy Seattle market for just a few seconds…and he’s gone.

What could have been a story about the hunt for a missing child is so much more. It’s a portrait of one woman’s desperate journey from her darkest moments, a deep dive into marriage, wealth, the con, friendship, and the house of mirrors that is a parent’s grief. Fresh, propulsive, current, and beautifully written, this is that book that keeps you glued page-after-page, racing to the end, but terrified of what you’ll find when you get there.

SUCH A FUN AGE

By Kiley Reid

I am of the mind that all good books are really mysteries. After all, a burning question is the beating heart of compelling storytelling. It’s the engine that drives us through a narrative: What will happen? I picked this up because I was intrigued by the premise, that a twenty-something African American babysitter is accused of kidnapping her young white charge when they visit a grocery store late at night. Though this is where the story begins, it’s not about a kidnapping. It’s a rich, complicated story about race and class and finding your calling. It’s about women buckling under the weight of expectations — their own, their family’s, the world’s — real and imagined. It’s about how a single moment can mean something different to everyone there, and how all of it is true. Smart, insightful, funny, and driven more by curiosity of character than by the unraveling of the plot, this beautifully observed page-turner will keep you riveted — and take you away from the madness of the moment we’re all sharing.

*****

As mentioned, Lisa Unger’s last release was The Stranger Inside.

Named a BEST BOOK OF FALL 2019 byPeople Magazine,Boston Globe,BookBub,PopSugar,CrimeReadsand more.

“Brilliant…. A well-crafted psychological thriller.” —The New York Times Book Review

Even good people are drawn to do evil things… Twelve-year-old Rain Winter narrowly escaped an abduction while walking to a friend’s house. Her two best friends, Tess and Hank, were not as lucky. Tess never came home, and Hank was held in captivity before managing to escape. Their abductor was sent to prison but years later was released. Then someone delivered real justice–and killed him in cold blood.

Now Rain is living the perfect suburban life, her dark childhood buried deep. She spends her days as a stay-at-home mom, having put aside her career as a hard-hitting journalist to care for her infant daughter. But when another brutal murderer who escaped justice is found dead, Rain is unexpectedly drawn into the case. Eerie similarities to the murder of her friends’ abductor force Rain to revisit memories she’s worked hard to leave behind. Is there a vigilante at work? Who is the next target? Why can’t Rain just let it go?

Introducing one of the most compelling and original killers in crime fiction today, Lisa Unger takes readers deep inside the minds of both perpetrator and victim, blurring the lines between right and wrong, crime and justice, and showing that sometimes people deserve what comes to them.

****

Here’s Lisa Unger’s October release, Confessions on the 7:45.

“[A] taut, beautifully-written novel.” —Sarah Pekkanen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of An Anonymous Girl

From master of suspense Lisa Unger comes a riveting thriller about a chance encounter that unravels a stunning web of lies and deceit.

Be careful to whom you tell your darkest secrets…

Selena Murphy is commuting home from her job in the city when the train stalls out on the tracks. She strikes up a conversation with a beautiful stranger in the next seat, and their connection is fast and easy. The woman introduces herself as Martha and confesses that she’s been stuck in an affair with her boss. Selena, in turn, confesses that she suspects her husband is sleeping with the nanny. When the train arrives at Selena’s station, the two women part ways, presumably never to meet again.

But days later, Selena’s nanny disappears.

Soon Selena finds her once-perfect life upended. As she is pulled into the mystery of the missing nanny, and as the fractures in her marriage grow deeper, Selena begins to wonder, who was Martha really? But she is hardly prepared for what she’ll discover.

Expertly plotted and reminiscent of the timeless classic Strangers on a Train, Confessions on the 7:45 is a gripping thriller about the delicate facades we create around our lives.

Scott Turow is doing a virtual event today on release day for his new book, The Last Trial. Barbara Peters will interview him at 5 PM MST, (8 PM EDT). The event will be on The Poisoned Pen’s Facebook page.

The Last Trial is also the Hot Book of the Week at The Pen, and you can still order signed copies through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3dCirF6 You can also order Turow’s other books there.

Here’s the summary of The Last Trial.

Two formidable men collide in this “first-class legal thriller” from New York Times bestselling author Scott Turow: a “brilliant courtroom chess match” about a celebrated criminal defense lawyer and the prosecution of his lifelong friend — a doctor accused of murder (David Baldacci).

At eighty-five years old, Alejandro “Sandy” Stern, a brilliant defense lawyer with his health failing but spirit intact, is on the brink of retirement. But when his old friend Dr. Kiril Pafko, a former Nobel Prize winner in Medicine, is faced with charges of insider trading, fraud, and murder, his entire life’s work is put in jeopardy, and Stern decides to take on one last trial.
In a case that will be the defining coda to both men’s accomplished lives, Stern probes beneath the surface of his friend’s dazzling veneer as a distinguished cancer researcher. As the trial progresses, he will question everything he thought he knew about his friend. Despite Pafko’s many failings, is he innocent of the terrible charges laid against him? How far will Stern go to save his friend, and — no matter the trial’s outcome — will he ever know the truth?
Stern’s duty to defend his client and his belief in the power of the judicial system both face a final, terrible test in the courtroom, where the evidence and reality are sometimes worlds apart.
Full of the deep insights into the spaces where the fragility of human nature and the justice system collide, Scott Turow’s The Last Trial is a masterful legal thriller that unfolds in page-turning suspense — and questions how we measure a life.

I won’t tell you how many years Vicki Delany and I have known each other, but I’m always grateful when she agrees to write a piece. Today, she’s going to talk about her book “Distractions”.

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestselling author in the United States. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Tea by the Sea mysteries, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Year-Round Christmas mysteries and, as Eva Gates, the Lighthouse Library series. Vicki lives and writes in bucolic Prince Edward County, Ontario. She is a past president of Crime Writers of Canada and a co-organizer of Women Killing It, a crime writing festival. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards. She is the recipient of the 2019 Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing.

Check for Vicki Delany’s books, and the books she suggests, in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

*****

I don’t know if you can call the books I’ve been reading lately distractions.  Almost the opposite of!  Because I’ve been reading fiction about plague times.  You know The Plague ““ the Bubonic Plague that killed between one third and one half of the population of Europe and countless others elsewhere in the Middle Ages.

Why on earth am I reading that stuff now?  Because I believe it’s vital to remember what has happened and thus what can happen. 

The first two of these books I read long ago, and when the news started to get serious about the impact of the Coronavirus, I remembered them and read them again.

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. 

This beautifully written and imagined novel is based on something that actually happened in England in 1666. The Great Plague was decimating London but things in the countryside were largely safe.   Infected fleas arrived wrapped up in cloth brought by a tailor newly arrived in the village.  And, of course, from there it spread rapidly throughout the immediate area.

The townspeople, under the leadership of their church minister, decided voluntarily to quarantine themselves. No one in. No one out. The Lord of the area agreed to leave supplies at a designated spot outside the town at regular intervals.  They passed the year, dying in great numbers.  But ultimately, when the plague had exhausted itself and the roads were opened, the neighbouring towns had been untouched. 

A truly inspiring story, that reminds us of the importance of sticking together in difficult times.

The Plague Tales, The Burning Road, The Physician’s Road by Ann Benson.

This trilogy has two time lines: 14^th century Europe and 21^st Century UK and US.  The historic tale is that of a Spanish Jewish doctor dealing with the plague, and the 21^st an American doctor struggling against modern plague.  The 21^st century story didn’t appeal too me too much on second reading, partly because it was written in 1997 and her “˜future’ is 2005. I’m not a big reader of speculative fiction, and the future world in this book didn’t appeal to me.  But the themes of struggling against an unknown disease and a suddenly unfamiliar world are still valid.

(Bubonic Plague was really a dreadful disease! The deaths were horrific, and in a time with no painkillers and no antibiotics. The descriptions of such in these two books are rather grim.)

The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Mandel is best known for her “˜plague’ book Station Eleven, and The Glass Hotel her newest novel.  I read Station Eleven a couple of years ago and loved it.  It’s not so much a book about a pandemic of terrifying proportions and the end of civilization as we know it, although it does touch on how it arrived and how it spread, but the aftermath, set 25 years after a previously unknown flu has killed 99% of the population (take that all of you who think we’re over-reacting to Covid-19!)  

The Glass Hotel is set in the “˜real’ world that appears to have nothing to do with Station Eleven, but it contains one passage that made me sit up straight: “Imagining an alternate reality… where the terrifying new swine flu in the Republic of Georgia hadn’t been swiftly contained.”  Which is exactly what did happen in the world of Station Eleven!

A neat trick of twisting reality, that.  I only wish we could do that with Covid-19.  Then again, as these books remind us, things can be a heck of a lot worse.

*****

Vicki Delany’s own books are not at all similar to what she’s been reading. There’s a Murder Afoot is the most recent title in her Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery series.

Just in time for Sherlock Holmes’s 166th birthday, the fifth installment in national bestselling author Vicki Delany’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery takes Sherlockania to the max with a Holmes convention and historic 221 Baker Street.

Gemma Doyle and her friends travel to London for a Sherlock Holmes convention–but will Gemma’s father take the fall for a felonious forger’s fatality?

The 6th of January is Sherlock Holmes’s birthday, and lucky for Gemma Doyle, January is also the slowest time of the year at both the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, and Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room. It’s a good time for Gemma and her friends to travel to England for a Holmes Convention. For Gemma, the trip provides an opportunity to visit her parents, Jayne Wilson is excited about seeing all the sites London has to offer, and Ryan Ashburton just wants to spend some time with Gemma. But the trip is immediately derailed when Gemma’s father Henry recognizes his brother-in-law Randolph Denhaugh, who disappeared more than thirty years ago on the night he stole a valuable painting from his own parents.

Henry, a retired detective with Scotland Yard, has been keeping tabs on the man’s career as a forger of Old Masters and he warns Randy to stay away from his family. It’s up to Gemma, with the help of her friends, to plunge into the “lowest and vilest alleys” of London to save her father from prison.

*****

In July, Delany will launch a new series. The Tea by the Seas series begins with Tea & Treachery.

In this charming new cozy mystery series from nationally bestselling author, Vicki Delany, a New York City expat-turned-Cape Cod tea shop owner must solve the murder of a local real estate developer to help her feisty grandmother out of a jam . . .
 
As the proud proprietor and head pastry chef of Tea by the Sea, a traditional English tearoom on the picturesque bluffs of Cape Cod, Roberts has her hands full, often literally. But nothing keeps her busier than steering her sassy grandmother, Rose, away from trouble. Rose operates the grand old Victorian B & B adjacent to Lily’s tea shop . . . for now. An aggressive real estate developer, Jack Ford, is pushing hard to rezone nearby land, with an eye toward building a sprawling golf resort, which would drive Rose and Lily out of business.
 
Tempers are already steaming, but things really get sticky when Ford is found dead at the foot of Rose’s property and the police think she had something to do with his dramatic demise. Lily can’t let her grandmother get burned by a false murder charge. So she starts her own investigation and discovers Ford’s been brewing bad blood all over town, from his jilted lover to his trophy wife to his shady business partners. Now, it’s down to Lily to stir up some clues, sift through the suspects, and uncover the real killer before Rose is left holding the tea bag.

*****

Look for Vicki Delany’s books in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2KJCKa6

If you love fantasy and discussions of tropes in the books, you’ll want to check out Penguin Random House’s new Facebook video series, “The Great Fantasy Debate”. Authors, teamed up with comedians, will talk about issues in fantasy books. Check out the trailer for the series.

So, let’s talk about “hot” topics. In the first show, Naomi Novik, author of fantasies, such as Uprooted, faces off against Tochi Onyebuchi, author of War Girls. (Check for the books in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/) Topic: Should people be allowed to own dragons?

If you can imagine it, you can debate it.

Should people be allowed to own dragons? What is the best fantasy world to vacation to? These questions and more will be answered on The Great Fantasy Debate, a new video series from Penguin Random House and Supreme Robot Pictures, exclusively on Facebook Watch. The 8-episode series premiered May 5^th, and will air Tuesday nights on the Penguin Random House Facebook page. All episodes are 10 minutes or less.

Each week, expert authors and hilarious comedians will team up to present arguments and counter-arguments (and sometimes interpretive dance) to support their side of a fantasy topic, drawn from fantasy literature and film. Topics range from Game of Thrones to Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter to Star Wars ““ everything is fair game! At the end of each episode, hosts Abbi Crutchfield and Drea Bolt will make their decision, then ask to the audience to weigh in.

Featured fantasy authors include:

• Pierce Brown (Red Rising)
• Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files)
• Marie Lu (Warcross)
• Naomi Novik (Spinning Silver)
• Tochi Onyebuchi (War Girls)

Featured comedians include:

• Sean Donnelly
• Aminah Imani
• Jay Jurden
• Sarah Smallwood Parsons

Viewers can participate in the debate themselves by joining Penguin Random House’s SciFi & Fantasy Group, Unbound Worlds, which will hold Watch Parties and post bonus material.

Should dragons be pets? What’s your opinion? Richard Wylde, Senior Manager at Penguin Random House, has his own opinion.

“I come down on the side of dragons should absolutely not be pets. It’s a tremendous amount of upkeep with little payoff. The least problematic dragon out there is probably Puff the Magic Dragon, and even then it eventually becomes a metaphor for growing up and abandoning the free-spiritedness of childhood.”

Decide for yourself.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2331276400504831

Laurie R. King, author of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mysteries, and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, are good friends who have traveled together frequently. And, Peters brought up various books from her “Laurie R. King collection in her library” in their recent book chat.

One of King’s books, Dreaming Spies, is set in Japan.

King and Peters spend quite a bit of time reminiscing about their trip to Japan. And, then they talked about the trip that led to Laurie R. King’s forthcoming book, Riviera Gold. The book will be released June 9, and King and Peters will have another book chat for that book’s release. Watch for future details of the June virtual event.

Then, they talked about Mary Russell’s War, and a contest Laurie R. King is holding.

Look for copies of Laurie R. King’s books in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2yDn27l And, check out Laurie R. King’s website with her newsletters and “Fun Stuff”, https://laurierking.com/

Enjoy the chat between Laurie R. King and Barbara Peters.

Clea Simon has been doing a little heavier reading than some of us, as you’ll discover when you read her book “Distractions” piece. A former journalist and music critic, Clea Simon wrote three nonfiction books, including the Boston Globe bestseller The Feline Mystique (St. Martin’s), before turning to a life of crime (fiction). Her more than two dozen mysteries usually involve cats or rock and roll, or some combination thereof. A native of New York, she moved to Massachusetts to attend Harvard and now lives nearby in Somerville. She is the author of the Dulcie Schwartz, Theda Krakow and Pru Marlowe pet noir series, as well as the Blackie and Care series, and now the Witch Cats of Cambridge mysteries. Look for Simon’s books in the Web Store, along with the books she’s suggesting. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

*****

Thanks for having me, Lesa. What a strange time we’re living in. But even if we’re stuck in our homes for the foreseeable future, we can still escape through books. For me, that escape has meant focusing on comfort reads ““ re-visiting the adventures I know well ““ and catching up on old friends. The theme of protagonists dealing with hardship seems to resonate right now. So while others may lean toward cozies, I’m finding myself going for more adventurous (if still familiar) fare.  The first book I found myself reaching for, once my reading time was my own, was Mary Stewart’s “The Crystal Cave.”

Her retelling of the Arthurian saga from the point of view of a Welsh wizard named Myrddin ““ or “Merlin,” as he comes to be known ““ just hits all the right notes of hero-overcoming-adversity, gallantry, and magic. Stewart is the master of adventure. While this trilogy lacks her usual swashbuckling romance she offers a fully realized portrait of a young hero discovering his own powers and also his way in a treacherous world. What could be better? (I’m not sure if I’ll re-read the rest of the series ““ “The Hollow Hills” and “The Last Enchantment,” however. Might be too sad!)

The book I was reading as this all came down was very different, but utterly absorbing: Hilary Mantel’s “The Mirror and the Light.”

I’ve long been a huge Hilary Mantel fan, though I prefer her big, dense novels (“Beyond Black” and “A Place of Greater Safety”) to her spare, arch books (like “Every Day is Mother’s Day”).  I considered myself incredibly lucky , then, to be asked to review “The Mirror and the Light,” which came out in March, for the Boston Globe.  The only problem? There were no advance reading copies ““ the uncorrected manuscripts that usually give critics a head start. Instead, we were given finished copies. But since this was considered a “big book,” meaning editors wanted their reviews to run on or just before publication date, that meant less than a week to read and formulate a review”“ and the novel ran more than 750 pages.

Reader, I did it. From the moment of waking to the time I dropped off, for five days, I lived and breathed “The Mirror and the Light.” I must say, I loved every minute of it. This book ““ the conclusion of her epic Thomas Cromwell trilogy ““is vibrant and evocative, and Mantel’s writing just grabs you. Although Cromwell lived in the 16^th Century (he was, for a time, Henry VIII’s chief adviser), this first-person retelling of events from Anne Boleyn’s beheading on reads like a contemporary political thriller, with characters walking the tightrope between favor and disaster. That said, it is also filled with the kind of references that I adore chasing down. (I lost more than an hour researching a reference to “the Mouldwarp King,” one day.) Now my husband is reading my copy, and I’m debating whether to give the massive tome a leisurely re-read or to go back to “A Place of Greater Safety,” my favorite of her books. (That one re-visits the impetuous group of young lawyers who kick off the French Revolution…)

Of course, I may just return to a newer favorite ““ C.S.  Harris’s Sebastian St. Cyr series. The 19^th Century Viscount’s latest outing, “Who Speaks for the Damned,” is just out, and I am waiting with bated breath.

 I think scary times are best enjoyed centuries later, and I’m dying to see how Sebastian solves the murder of a transported nobleman. Yes, I think it’s time for a Regency resurgency.

*****

Clea Simon is the author of 26 mysteries, most recently “An Incantation of Cats” (Polis). So, let’s talk about An Incantation of Cats, which can be purchased through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2WEzn72

The new novel in Clea Simon’s spellbinding Witch Cats of Cambridge series! When two new clients seek Becca’s professional services, the fledgling witch detective is overjoyed. Finally, she can use her skills to help her magical community. But as the young witch finds the new cases intertwining, things grow more complicated. Becca’s three cats ““ the ones with the real power ““ can smell something is wrong with these clients. But not even Clara, the calico, knows what to do when a man ends up dead and a powerful and poisonous root appears ““ and disappears ““ in the case. To make matters worse, Clara and her littermates are feuding ““ and she can’t tell them about an unsettling interaction she’s had with one of the client’s sisters. Is it possible that some humans may have the same powers as the magical felines? What does that mean for Clara’s beloved Becca ““ and for the potent poison that has already taken one person’s life? In this second Witch Cats of Cambridge mystery, Clara and her sisters must learn to work together if they are to save the person they all love.

Amanda Quick (Jayne Ann Krentz) will talk about her latest novel, Close Up, in a virtual event on Saturday, May 9 at 2 PM MST (5 PM EDT). Watch the event in real time via Facebook Live or check it out anytime afterwards on FB or Youtube. You can order a signed copy of Close Up, or copies of Quick’s other books through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3cbWXP5

Because Quick’s latest book features a photographer in 1930s Hollywood, she recently wrote an article, “Shooting the Front Page Photo in the 1930s” for CrimeReads. Check it out here. https://bit.ly/3dmtqlZ

Here’s the story of Close Up.

Welcome to Burning Cove, California where 1930s Hollywood glamour conceals a ruthless killer…
 
Vivian Brazier never thought life as an art photographer would include nightly wake-up calls to snap photos of grisly crime scenes or headshots for aspiring male actors. Although she is set on a career of transforming photography into a new art form, she knows her current work is what’s paying the bills.
 
After shooting crime scene photos of a famous actress, the latest victim of the murderer the press has dubbed the “Dagger Killer,” Vivian notices eerie similarities to the crime scenes of previous victims—details that only another photographer would have noticed—details that put Vivian at the top of the killer’s target list.
 
Nick Sundridge has always been able to “see” things that others don’t, coping with disturbing dreams and visions. His talent, or as he puts it—his curse—along with his dark past makes him a recluse, but a brilliant investigator. As the only one with the ability to help, Nick is sent to protect Vivian. Together, they discover the Dagger Killer has ties to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood royalty and high society. It is a cutthroat world of allure and deception that Vivian and Nick must traverse—all in order to uncover the killer who will stop at nothing to add them to their gallery of murders.

Maybe you know Jenn McKinlay as the author of the Cupcake Bakery mysteries, including the newly released Pumpkin Spice Peril. The eleventh book in her Library Lover’s Mystery series, One for the Books, is scheduled for a September release. Buried to the Brim, her sixth Hat Shop Mystery, came out in January. You may want to watch for her July release, a romantic comedy, Paris is Always a Good Idea. All of those books are available through the Poisoned Pen Web Store, along with Jenn’s other titles. https://bit.ly/2v0jw8V

Former librarian Jenn McKinlay is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Bluff Point Romances, including Every Dog Has His Day, Barking Up the Wrong Tree, and About a Dog, as well as the Library Lover’s Mysteries, the Cupcake Bakery Mysteries, and the Hat Shop Mysteries. Jenn lives in sunny Arizona in a house that is overrun with kids, pets, and her husband’s guitars. She’s one of the writers who blogs at https://www.jungleredwriters.com/, and her website is https://www.jennmckinlay.com/

Although Jenn McKinlay has a busy writing and family life, she still made time to write a book “Distractions” piece. (Jenn probably doesn’t need distractions.) You can find the books she suggests in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

*****

I don’t know about you, but quarantine in the frat house in which I reside, is getting pretty old. I am the lone female (if you don’t count one of the dogs and two of the cats) in a house full of dude. This means the volume knobs on the guitars, video games, and televisions are high, the seat is frequently left up, and no one picks up anything. Ever. It just stays where they leave it, be it dirty socks, a basketball, or the plate or glass they were just using. I don’t think I ever noticed this until we were forced to cohabit 24/7.

While having a minor hissy fit the other morning, I yelled at one of them, “Put your dirty dishes in the dishwasher. We don’t have house elves!” The Hooligan clapped a hand over his heart and gasped, “You gave them clothes?”

Yeah, it’s hard to stay mad when you’re laughing. Still, I was forced to raise my game and recently dusted off the ping pong table. Now we’ve turned ping pong into a blood sport with our highly competitive matches to determine who’s cooking dinner, because Mama is over it!

Thankfully, I’ve had a nice stash of books to read over quarantine, which has likely saved lives. Her are three of my favorites:

Hid from Our Eyes by Julia Spencer-Fleming: This is the ninth book in the Claire Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne series but it can easily be read as a stand alone. Set across three different time lines with three identical murders, it is a compulsive read. The stakes are high and I was equally invested in each of the story lines. Per usual, this author wraps up the murder with a stunning twist, and leaves the reader wanting more. I can’t wait for book ten.

Hid From Our Eyes

A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Colette: This is a delightful cozy mystery that I was fortunate enough to get a sneak peek at. Colette pens a mystery that is witty and wonderful, with old enemies and new beginnings all woven around a small ice cream shop with a story that is just delicious. Her amateur sleuth, Bronwyn Crewse, is feisty and fun and I enjoyed every minute I spent with her.

A Deadly Inside Scoop

Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson: As a knitter, this book delighted me on so many levels. Reading a women’s fiction romance set around saving a neighborhood yarn shop felt very on point for the times we’re living in and, yet, this book was so hopeful and lovely. I found myself rooting for Jesse and Kerry and their mission to save their beloved Mama Joy’s yarn shop, Strong Knits, after her unexpected passing. It’s a touching story that will lift you up and make you smile.

Real Men Knit

****

I don’t want you to miss Jenn’s own books with her trademark humor. Find them in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2v0jw8V

The latest Cupcake Bakery mystery, Pumpkin Spice Peril, came out at the end of April.

In the twelfth Cupcake Bakery Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay, the Fairy Tale Cupcake crew follows the clever crumb trail of a killer who’s anything but cookie-cutter.

Life is all sugar and spice for the Fairy Tale Cupcake bakers–Melanie Cooper is engaged to the delectable Joe DeLaura, Angie Harper and her husband Tate are savoring married life, and the bakery is bustling with happy customers. Until one of their most valued cupcake connoisseurs ends up dead.

Local glass artist and cupcake lover Rene Fischer-Klein has always suffered from a wide variety of health issues. In an effort to cheer her up, her doting husband, Peter, brings her a four-pack of her favorite cupcakes every week. But when the police discover that Rene has been poisoned, there’s no sugarcoating the fact that the last things she ate were the bakery’s signature pumpkin spice cupcakes! With their lives and bakery at stake, it’s up to Mel and Angie to find out who poisoned their artist friend and why, before their future is frosted for good.

*****

If you didn’t catch it in hardcover, Library Lover’s Mystery #10, Word to the Wise, is released in paperback at the end of June.

It’s no-holds-barred murder…
 
Lindsey Norris is finally getting married to the man of her dreams—but it’s not all roses for Briar Creek’s beloved library director, as town newcomer Aaron Grady gives the term “book lover” a whole new meaning. Inappropriate looks and unwelcome late-night visits to Lindsey’s house have everyone from the crafternooners to Lindsey’s fiancé, Sully, on edge.
 
When Grady’s dead body is found outside the library and all the clues point to Sully, Lindsey knows it’s up to her to find the real culprit and clear Sully’s name. But becoming a thorn in the killer’s side is not without its consequences, and the closer Lindsey gets to the truth, the more determined the murderer is to make her just a footnote.

*****

And, if you’re a fan of contemporary romantic comedies, you’ll want to watch for Jenn McKinlay’s Paris is Always a Good Idea, due out in July.

A thirty-year-old woman retraces her gap year through Ireland, France, and Italy to find love—and herself—in this hilarious and heartfelt novel.

It’s been seven years since Chelsea Martin embarked on her yearlong postcollege European adventure. Since then, she’s lost her mother to cancer and watched her sister marry twice, while Chelsea’s thrown herself into work, becoming one of the most talented fundraisers for the American Cancer Coalition, and with the exception of one annoyingly competent coworker, Jason Knightley, her status as most successful moneymaker is unquestioned.

When her introverted mathematician father announces he’s getting remarried, Chelsea is forced to acknowledge that her life stopped after her mother died and that the last time she can remember being happy, in love, or enjoying her life was on her year abroad. Inspired to retrace her steps—to find Colin in Ireland, Jean Claude in France, and Marcelino in Italy—Chelsea hopes that one of these three men who stole her heart so many years ago can help her find it again. 

From the start of her journey nothing goes as planned, but as Chelsea reconnects with her old self, she also finds love in the very last place she expected.

Congratulations to all the Agatha Award winners. The 2020 Awards were given out last week, honoring books published in 2019. Fans registered for Malice Domestic voted on the books despite the cancellation of the conference, due to Covid-19. You can order the books through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Best Contemporary Novel

The Long Call by Ann Cleeves

Best First Novel

One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski

Best Historical Novel

Charity’s Burden by Edith Maxwell

Best Non-Fiction

The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and Her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women by Mo Moulton

Best Children’s/Young Adult

The Last Crystal by Frances Schoonmaker

Best Short Story

“The Last Word” by Shawn Reilly Simmons, from Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible