Even the Hot Book of the Week at the Poisoned Pen has a holiday theme right now. It’s Trish Harnetiaux’ White Elephant. Signed copies are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2ReXxEf
Here’s the description of White Elephant.
A crackling Christmas mystery that combines murder and blackmail at a holiday office party, in a mashup reminiscent of Big Little Lies and Clue.
There are only a few rules in a White Elephant gift exchange: 1) Everyone brings a wrapped, unmarked gift. 2) Numbers are drawn to decide who picks first. 3) Gifts don’t need to be pricey—and often they’re downright tacky.
But things are a little different in Aspen, Colorado, at the office holiday party for the real estate firm owned by Henry Calhoun and his wife Claudine. Each Christmas sparks a contest among the already competitive staff to see who can buy the most coveted gift: the one that will get stolen the most times, the one that will prove just how many more commissions they earned that year than their colleagues. Designer sunglasses, deluxe spa treatments, front row concert tickets—nothing is off the table. And the staff is even more competitive this year as Zara, the hottest young pop star out of Hollywood, is in town and Claudine is determined to sell her the getaway home of her dreams.
Everyone is puzzled when a strange gift shows up in the mix: an antique cowboy statue. At least the sales agents are guessing it’s an antique—otherwise it’d be a terrible present. It’s certainly not very pretty or expensive-looking. In fact, the gift makes sense only to Henry and Claudine. The statue is the weapon Henry used to commit a murder years ago, a murder that helped start his company and a murder that Claudine helped cover up. She swore that no one would ever be able to find the statue or trace it to their crime. So which of their employees did? And why did they place it in the White Elephant? What could possibly be their endgame?
Over the course of the evening, Henry and Claudine race to figure out who could have planted the weapon, and just what the night means for the secrets they’ve been harboring. Further adding to the drama is a snowstorm that closes nearby roads—preventing anyone from leaving, as well as keeping law enforcement from the scene. And by the end of this crazy night, the police will most definitely be required…
Do you know what I love about the gift lists from the authors? I enjoy seeing how they each tackle the same topic. The voices and styles are always unique.
Tracy Clark is our guest author today. Clark is a newspaper editor based in Chicago. Her first mystery, Broken Places, introduced Cass Raines, ex-cop turned PI. She followed that critically acclaimed book with Borrowed Time. You can find copies of both of her Chicago-based books in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2Ooki6K
You can also find Tracy’s gift suggestions in the Web Store. I hope you’ll check them out. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
1. Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? Agatha Christie. I’d give this book to anyone interested in a twisty good time. The fun of a good Christie yarn is how this master of red herrings and deviously masked clues manages to trip up a reader every single time. Oh, you go into each book thinking you can outsmart her, outthink her, but you cannot. She’s probably somewhere up there laughing at us right now. Evans is one of my favs. It doesn’t feature Marple or Poirot, just a couple of energetic amateur sleuths, but I love this one. When I read it the first time decades ago, I kicked myself for getting bamboozled. Having read Evans a few times since, now I just smile and give the great dame her props. Brava, Dame Christie. Brava!
2. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee. OK. This one’s not technically a mystery, though maybe it could be considered one, given that whole Boo Radley thing. But Mockingbird would be on any list of my all-time fav books, and I’d gladly gift it to anyone, anywhere, anytime. If I were deserted on a desert island and was allowed only one book to have along, this would be the book. I don’t know how many times I’ve read it and have no idea how many more times I’ll open it up and read it again. I like the simple beauty of Lee’s words, her unique voice, her social commentary. Every sentence is a descriptive masterpiece and her characters have become iconic, as familiar to most readers as a member of their own family. Everyone knows a Scout. Everyone stands at that defense table with Atticus Finch. Read this book. Treasure it.
3. A is for Alibi through Y is for Yesterday, Sue Grafton. Pick one. Doesn’t matter which, they’re all great fun. Grafton is a true master of the female-led PI story, one of a handful of Golden Age of female detective writers who took the conventional PI genre and flipped it on its hard, bumpy little head. Kinsey Millhone with her little black dress and peanut butter and pickle sandwiches (ick) is a real delight. Never laughed so hard as when Kinsey tried squeezing through a doggy door in the pursuit of justice. I’m laughing now just remembering it. Start at A work your way through the alphabet.
4.One Coffee With, Margaret Maron. This one kicks off the Sigrid Harald series. Harald is a brilliant NYPD police lieutenant with a unique backstory. But she’s a bit peculiar, a loner, socially awkward, which makes her so much fun to get to know. I think there are seven or eight books in the Harald series. I wish there were more.
5. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens. I’ve given this one as a gift a few times. I want everyone to love it as much as I do. I read A Christmas Carol every year, speeding all the way through from their first glimpse of Marley’s ghost in the door knocker all the way through to that little kid lugging that massive turkey back to Scrooge’s place on Christmas morning. Love it, but I’m a big Dickens fan. Bleak House, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist. Count me in. It doesn’t have to be Christmas to read this one either. Read it on the Fourth of July. It’s still good.
It’s not all mystery at The Poisoned Pen. On Saturday, Dec. 7 at 11 AM, the store will host Bud Selig, the former Commissioner of Major League Baseball.
A signed copy of his new book, For the Good of the Game, might be the perfect gift for a baseball fan. If you can’t make it to the bookstore on Saturday, you can still order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2LhGHRf
Here’s the description of For the Good of the Game.
A New York Times bestseller.
Foreword by Doris Kearns Goodwin The longtime Commissioner of Major League Baseball provides an unprecedented look inside professional baseball today, focusing on how he helped bring the game into the modern age and revealing his interactions with players, managers, fellow owners, and fans nationwide.
More than a century old, the game of baseball is resistant to change—owners, managers, players, and fans all hate it. Yet, now more than ever, baseball needs to evolve—to compete with other professional sports, stay relevant, and remain America’s Pastime it must adapt. Perhaps no one knows this better than Bud Selig who, as the head of MLB for more than twenty years, ushered in some of the most important, and controversial, changes in the game’s history—modernizing a sport that had remained unchanged since the 1960s.
In this enlightening and surprising book, Selig goes inside the most difficult decisions and moments of his career, looking at how he worked to balance baseball’s storied history with the pressures of the twenty-first century to ensure its future. Part baseball story, part business saga, and part memoir, For the Good of the Game chronicles Selig’s career, takes fans inside locker rooms and board rooms, and offers an intimate, fascinating account of the frequently messy process involved in transforming an American institution. Featuring an all-star lineup of the biggest names from the last forty years of baseball, Selig recalls the vital games, private moments, and tense conversations he’s shared with Hall of Fame players and managers and the contentious calls he’s made. He also speaks candidly about hot-button issues the steroid scandal that threatened to destroy the game, telling his side of the story in full and for the first time.
As he looks back and forward, Selig outlines the stakes for baseball’s continued transformation—and why the changes he helped usher in must only be the beginning.
Each year, I invite several authors to write guest posts for the holidays. This year, I asked them to share their list of gift books, either books they would like to receive, or books they would like to give. Martin Edwards, author of Gallows Court, and editor of The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories, was the first to send his post. (Thank you, Martin!) Check the Web Store for Edwards’ own books, as well as for his suggestions. I hope you find some gift ideas of your own! https://store.poisonedpen.com/
*****
It’s better to give than to receive, they say, but if I’m honest, I quite like receiving as well as giving, so I’m going to mention a few books I’d love to take a look at myself as well as some that I’d like to share with others.
Novels on my wish-list include The Missing Ones by Edwin Hill, the second in his series about Hester Thursby. I met Edwin a year or two ago and very much enjoyed having dinner with him at the Bouchercon in Dallas. There’s no doubt that getting to know someone better helps to increase one’s interest in their books, but I’ve been intrigued by this particular title since I first became aware of it. That’s because the setting is Finisterre Island in Maine ““ and by weird coincidence I read about this just as I was toying with the idea of creating a British crime scene called ““ you guessed it, Finisterre Island. Great minds, huh? Anyway, Edwin got there first, and I love what I’ve heard so far about his story. Can’t wait to read it.
When in the US recently, I did a couple of highly enjoyable events at the Poisoned Pen bookstore in Scottsdale. The first of these was in the company of Donis Casey, and I was delighted to meet her. On that occasion, however, I was distracted by a combination of jetlag and the fact that my suitcase had not arrived in the States with me. So I completely forgot to acquire a copy of Donis’ new book The Wrong Girl. It’s an omission I’d be very glad to repair.
I enjoy collecting rare books, preferably signed or inscribed. It’s an addiction, this bibliomania, but it does give me a good deal of pleasure. Someone who has been collecting for much longer than me is Otto Penzler, proprietor of the Mysterious Bookshop, and now he’s published a limited edition about his own experiences of chasing after elusive titles. Mysterious Obsessions is definitely a book I want to read.
Now for a bit of give rather take. One novel I read on the flight back from the US was Peter Swanson’s Rules for Perfect Murders (the title of the American edition is different ““ Eight Perfect Murders). It fascinates me as a novel of psychological suspense and its added appeal is that it focuses on a clutch of classic crime novels, including books by two of my favourites, Agatha Christie and Anthony Berkeley. Peter Swanson is a highly accomplished novelist, skilled not only at characterisation and the building of tension but also in the craft of twisty plotting. I’ve already given one copy to a friend, who enjoyed it as much as I did.
My second bookstore event in Scottsdale was in the company of Nicholas Meyer. By that time, the missing suitcase had finally turned up, and I was a bit less of a gibbering heap. It was a great pleasure to meet Nic, whose work I’ve admired ever since the long-ago appearance of his famous first Sherlock Holmes novel, The Seven Per Cent Solution. His fourth Sherlockian book, The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols, is a real treat and I’d love to present a copy to a fellow Holmes fan.
An old friend of mine is the British crime writer Ann Cleeves. She’s become a superstar of the genre thanks to the successful television version of not just one but two of her series, Vera and Shetland. Now she’s begun another series with The Long Call, an entertaining but by no means cosy traditional mystery set in north Devon, where Ann was born. Already it’s been optioned for TV and I can certainly recommend it. You’ll be hearing a lot more about the Two Rivers series and detective Matthew Venn, I’m sure of that.
I have a weakness for crime reference books and one of the chunkiest and most gorgeous that I’ve seen in a while is John Curran’s profusely illustrated The Hooded Gunman. This tells the story of Collins Crime Club, one of the most important crime fiction imprints in the history of British publishing, and it’s packed with information about writers famous and forgotten. I have every confidence that it will feature in next year’s crime writing award lists.
I’m conscious that there’s nothing particularly seasonal about my choices, so I really ought to pick a stocking-filler. And what could be more appropriate than the latest of the British Library Crime Classics to be published in the US? The Christmas Card Crime and other stories is, I’m afraid, edited by me, but the stories are so enjoyable and diverse that modesty doesn’t deter me from wanting to share it. Just the thing for a chilly winter’s night….
Paige Shelton, author of Thin Ice, will be at The Poisoned Pen on Wednesday, Dec. 4. She’ll join Mark De Castrique, author of Murder in Rat Alley, at 7 PM on that date. Signed copies of Thin Ice, as well as copies of Shelton’s books, including her beloved Scottish Bookshop mysteries, are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2DiEf8P
Because this book kicks off a new series for Shelton, I thought it was the right time to re-introduce her here, and ask a few questions.
*****
Paige, Would you introduce yourself to readers?
Thank you, Lesa. It’s always great to talk to you and your readers.
I’m a mystery writer, with about twenty published cozies. Thin Ice is my first non-cozy suspense and is the first in the Alaska Wild series. Other series are: Farmers Market, Country Cooking School (paranormal), Dangerous Type, and Scottish Bookshop. My first book, Farm Fresh Murder published in 2010.
I moved around the Midwest a lot as a kid but ended up in Salt Lake City after college. I met my husband there and we raised our son. About five years ago, and after son was in college, my husband and I moved to Arizona. Though I miss my Utah friends, I am head-over-heels for Arizona. I can’t believe how much I’ve come to love the desert and am very glad to be here.
Introduce us to Beth Rivers, please.
She’s a successful thriller writer ““ but that’s a secret. After being abducted by a fan who’d stalked her for a couple of years, he kidnaped her and kept her in his van for three long days. She doesn’t remember much about that time, but she did get away. After brain surgery to clear a blood clot on her brain, she decided to run away and hide until her kidnapper was found. She escapes to a remote area of Alaska, hoping she’s run far enough.
This might be tough without spoilers, but tell us about Thin Ice.
Beth tries to find a way to deal with her past trauma as well as assist the local police in solving a mysterious death. She grew up around law enforcement, so she knows a few things. Every day she moves forward though, some of her past sneaks in and tries to pull her back to that place, that time locked in her captor’s van.
You’re known as a cozy mystery writer. Why the departure with Thin Ice?
I think it’s as simple as writers love to write. When I first found my wonderful agent, Jessica Faust, I didn’t even know what a cozy was ““ I just wanted to write mysteries. I would love to write all different kinds of stories, and I have an agent with a big vision, as well as a super-smart editor, Hannah Braatan. I feel very fortunate.
You have a fascinating cast of characters in Thin Ice. Introduce readers to a few of them, please ““ Gril, Viola, Donner, any others you’d like to mention.
Gril ““ the grizzled police chief. He moved to Alaska from Chicago, where he was tired of watching so many people die. He’s smart in an old-school way.
Viola runs the halfway house where Beth accidentally rents a room. She’s quite the character, having run away from Juneau with her sister when they were kids. I just finished book two of the series and got to know Viola even better. I really like her.
Donner is a local Park Ranger, so he’s part of Gril’s law enforcement team. He tries to help Beth, but he’s got a few secrets of his own.
In fact, it seems that most folks around Benedict, Alaska are running or hiding from something. Lots of secrets to uncover.
Tell us a little about Beth’s mother.
Millicent Rivers is a mess. She loves her daughter, Beth, but when Beth’s father disappeared when she was a kid, Mill’s already obsessive ways took over and she hasn’t stopped looking for Eddy Rivers since. She thinks all police are idiots, and she thinks she’s above the law. Now, after what happened to her daughter, in her mind she has even more to avenge.
There’s so much left unknown at the end of Thin Ice. Can you tell us anything about the next book, or even Gril’s next investigation?
Hmm. There’s more than one dead body in the second book. One: a frozen body is found in a previously hidden shed that becomes exposed after a mudslide. That’s truly all I can say. Oh! Also, two mysterious little girls appear and though they don’t speak, they sure seem to “say” a lot. There’s lots more about Beth’s captor and Beth’s mother.
You picked a remote park of Alaska as a setting. Tell us about your research, and what you loved about Alaska.
My in-laws lived in Anchorage for years, and my husband and I took our honeymoon up there. I was shocked by the state’s beauty as well as its vast primitiveness. I mean, it is still really, really primitive, and that’s around Anchorage, a big city. Last summer, Charlie and I visited an even more remote area around Glacier Bay National Park ““ Gustavus, which is the town I used to create Benedict. It is, unquestionably, a different world, a different sort of life. As much as I loved the trip, I would find it difficult to live so primitively. However, I hope to go back someday.
Typewriters. It’s an Olympia typewriter in Thin Ice. Your Dangerous Type mysteries feature a typewriter repair shop. What fascinates you about typewriters?
Everything. I can’t get enough of them. I only own a couple of old ones because I’m not a collector, but I love looking at pictures of them, reading about them, pushing their keys. They changed the world ““ the way we communicate. And they make cool clacking noises.
What’s on your TBR pile, Paige?
I’m currently reading The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. It’s extraordinary. The next three on the ever-changing pile are: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (research for Scottish Bookshop six)
The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher
and
Old Bones by Preston and Child
Thanks to you and your readers, Lesa! Happy holidays to everyone.
*****
If you would like to read a little more about Thin Ice, here’s the summary from the Web Store.
First in a new series set in Alaska from beloved author Paige Shelton, Thin Ice will chill your bones.
Beth Rivers is on the run ““ she’s doing the only thing she could think of to keep herself safe. Known to the world as thriller author Elizabeth Fairchild, she had become the subject of a fanatic’s obsession. After being held in a van for three days by her kidnapper, Levi Brooks, Beth managed to escape, and until he is captured, she’s got to get away. Cold and remote, Alaska seems tailor-made for her to hideout.
Beth’s new home in Alaska is sparsely populated with people who all seem to be running or hiding from something, and though she accidentally booked a room at a halfway house, she feels safer than she’s felt since Levi took her. That is, until she’s told about a local death that’s a suspected murder. Could the death of Linda Rafferty have anything to do with her horror at the hands of Levi Brooks?
As Beth navigates her way through the wilds of her new home, her memories of her time in the van are coming back, replaying the terror and the fear—and threatening to keep her from healing, from reclaiming her old life again. Can she get back to normal, will she ever truly feel safe, and can she help solve the local mystery, if only so she doesn’t have to think about her own?
Military thrillers, espionage and secrets were the topics when Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, hosted authors Marc Cameron and Walt Gragg. Cameron’s latest book is Tom Clancy Code of Honor and Gragg is the author of The Chosen One. Signed copies of both books are available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/ You can watch the entire event, but, first, here are the summaries of both books.
As President of the United States, Jack Ryan has faced many challenges, but none have been as personal as this and never has he been this helpless in the face of evil in the latest entry in Tom Clancy’s #1 New York Times bestselling series.
Father Pat West, S.J. was a buddy of the young Jack Ryan when they were both undergraduates at Boston College. Father West left a comfortable job in the philosophy department at Georgetown to work with the poor in Indonesia. Now he’s been arrested and accused of blasphemy against Islam.
President Ryan is desperate to rescue his old friend, but he can’t move officially against the Indonesians. Instead he relies on the Campus team to find out who is framing the priest.
There’s one other twist to the story. President Ryan discovers a text on his private cell phone from the priest warning about a coming attack against America…
*****
Here’s The Chosen One.
A fundamentalist Islamic army is on the march in the Middle East, and the fight to stop the spread of madness will take everything the American military can muster, in this novel from the author of The Red Line.
Two months ago, a new leader arose in the Islamic world, the Mahdi—or the Chosen One. He has rallied fundamentalist Muslim forces across the Middle East who have driven deep into Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Standing against them is an allied force made up primarily of the American military.
It’s a desperate fight. From armored battles in the desert to American carriers desperately dodging waves of cruise missiles, the Mahdi proves to have many tricks up his sleeve.
Marine Lieutenant Sam Erickson is in the thick of the fighting. He and his company have fought their way from a landing on the Mediterranean shore to the outskirts of Cairo. Now he finds himself at a critical juncture, but can he make the sacrifices necessary for the greater good?
*****
Now, if you would like to watch the event, here it is.
Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently hosted two of her author friends, Dana Stabenow and Laurie R. King. There’s a short conversation with Stabenow about her forthcoming Kate Shugak book, No Fixed Line. There will be signed copies of that 22nd book in the series available through the Web Store, along with Stabenow’s other books. https://bit.ly/2F9m0Bq Dana Stabenow will be back at The Poisoned Pen on Saturday, January 11 at 2 PM for the publication party for No Fixed Line.
Here’s the summary of No Fixed Line.
It is New Year’s Eve, nearly six weeks into an off-and-on blizzard that has locked Alaska down, effectively cutting it off from the outside world. But now there are reports of a plane down in the Quilak mountains. With the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board—responsible for investigating aviation incidents) unable to reach the crash site, ex-Trooper Jim Chopin is pulled out of retirement to try to identify the aircraft, collect the corpses, and determine why no flight has been reported missing. But Jim discovers survivors: two children who don’t speak a word of English. Meanwhile, PI Kate Shugak receives an unexpected and unwelcome accusation from beyond the grave, a charge that could change the face of the Park forever.
*****
The longer conversation was between Barbara Peters and Laurie R. King. The two discuss both of King’s characters, Kate Martinelli and Mary Russell. But, King’s latest novella is a Kate Martinelli title, Beginnings. Check for signed copies of Beginnings, and King’s other books. https://bit.ly/2yDn27l
Here’s the description of Beginnings.
INSPECTOR KATE MARTINELLI has worked the SFPD’s Homicide Detail for nearly thirty years. She knows all about how a cop builds a case bit by bit to create a clear story from the scattered pieces of evidence. Until the day her fifteen-year-old daughter, Nora, happens to ask about an aunt she’d never met. Kate’s kid sister died in the 1980s, a wild young woman who lost control of a car and hit a tree, end of story … except it isn’t. Because once Kate begins to look, seeking to reassure Nora that it was only a senseless accident and not the suicide a small town’s gossip made it, she starts to find pieces that don’t fit the picture. Holes in the evidence. Mismatched fragments that change the story Kate has told herself all these years-the story that for her, was the beginning of everything.
What did happen in Diamond Lake that night? Was it an accident, or a hushed-up suicide? Or was her sister’s death something darker yet?
*****
Now, you can watch the entire event with both authors.
The Poisoned Pen is closed today for Thanksgiving. Feel free to browse the Web Store, though, if you’re doing some early shopping! https://store.poisonedpen.com/
Ace Atkins has been waiting to set one of the Spenser books in Hollywood. Finally, with Robert B. Parker’s Angel Eyes, he had his chance. If you’re a fan of Parker’s books, you’re going to want to listen to the conversation between Atkins and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.
Photo by Stephanie Rumsey
Atkins has now written eight of the Spenser books. You can find them in the Web Store, including a signed copy of Robert B. Parker’s Angel Eyes. https://bit.ly/2OpsMdT
Here’s the summary of Robert B. Parker’s Angel Eyes.
In the latest thriller featuring the legendary Boston PI, Spenser heads to the City of Angels to meet old friends and new enemies in a baffling missing person case that might shake Tinseltown to its core.
Gabby Leggett left her Boston family with dreams of making it big as a model/actress in Hollywood. Two years later, she disappears from her apartment. Her family, former boyfriend, friends–and the police–have no idea where she is and no leads. Leggett’s mother hires Spenser to find her, with help of his former apprentice, Zebulon Sixkill, now an L.A. private eye.
Spenser barely has time to unpack before the trail leads to a powerful movie studio boss, the Armenian mob, and a shadowy empowerment group some say might be a dangerous cult.
It’s soon clear that Spenser and Sixkill may be outgunned this time, and series favorites Chollo and Bobby Horse ride to the rescue to provide backup. From the mansions of Beverly Hills to the lawless streets of a small California town, Spenser will need to watch his step. In Hollywood, all that glitters isn’t gold. And not all those who wander are lost.
*****
Here’s your chance to listen to the entire conversation. If you’re a fan of the Spenser books, you won’t want to miss it.
If you haven’t read Tracy Chevalier’s books, you probably recognize her name as the author of Girl with a Pearl Earring. She’s also the author of the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen, A Single Thread. You can find signed copies of that book in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/34itSO0
Here’s the description of A Single Thread.
“A buoyant tale about the path to acceptance and joy–beginning, like all journeys, with one brave step.”–People
“The best-selling novelist has done a masterful job of depicting the circumstances of a generation of women we seldom think about: the mothers, sisters, wives and fiances of men lost in World War I, whose job it was to remember those lost but not forgotten.”–Associated Press
Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2019 (TIME) | Best Books of Fall (PopSugar) | 5 Books Not To Miss (USA TODAY) | 50 Best Books of the Year (GOOD HOUSEKEEPING) | One of the New York Post‘s Fall Novels Everyone’s Talking About | 13 Fall Best New Books Written by Women (Parade) | One of the New York Times Book Review’s New & Noteworthy | One of Chicago Sun Times’ “Books Not to Miss” | One of Real Simple‘s Best Books of 2019 So Far
Violet finds support and community in the group, fulfillment in the work they create, and even a growing friendship with the vivacious Gilda. But when forces threaten her new independence and another war appears on the horizon, Violet must fight to put down roots in a place where women aren’t expected to grow. Told in Chevalier’s glorious prose, A Single Thread is a timeless story of friendship, love, and a woman crafting her own life.