PoisonedBlogger

Thanks to The Rap Sheet for posting the nominees for the 2019 Dagger Awards, as announced by the British Crime Writers Association (CWA). The winners will be announced in London, England on October 24. Cong (Don’t forget to check The Poisoned Pen’s Web Store for copies of the nominated titles. https://store.poisonedpen.com)

Congratulations to all of the nominees.

CWA Gold Dagger:
“¢ All the Hidden Truths, by Claire Askew (Hodder & Stoughton)
“¢ The Puppet Show, by M.W. Craven: (Constable)
“¢ What We Did, by Christobel Kent (Sphere)
“¢ Unto Us a Son Is Given, by Donna Leon (Heinemann)
“¢ American by Day, by Derek B Miller (Doubleday)
“¢ A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better, by Benjamin Wood (Scribner)

CWA John Creasey (New Blood):
“¢ All the Hidden Truths, by Claire Askew (Hodder & Stoughton)
“¢ The Boy at the Door, by Alex Dahl (Head of Zeus)
“¢ Scrublands, by Chris Hammer (Wildfire)
“¢ Turn a Blind Eye, by Vicky Newham (HQ)
“¢ Blood & Sugar, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle)
“¢ Overkill, by Vanda Symon (Orenda)

CWA ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-fiction:
“¢ All That Remains: A Life in Death, by Sue Black (Doubleday)
“¢ An Unexplained Death: The True Story of a Body at the Belvedere, 
by Mikita Brottman (Canongate)
“¢ Murder by the Book: A Sensational Chapter in Victorian Crime, 
by Claire Harman (Viking)
“¢ The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century, by Kirk Wallace Johnson (Hutchinson)
“¢ The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War, by Ben Macintyre (Viking)
“¢ The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, by Hallie Rubenhold (Doubleday)

CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger:
“¢ Give Me Your Hand, by Megan Abbott (Picador)
“¢ Safe Houses, by Dan Fesperman (Head of Zeus)
“¢ Killing Eve: No Tomorrow, by Luke Jennings (John Murray)
“¢ Lives Laid Away, by Stephen Mack Jones (Soho Crime)
“¢ To the Lions, by Holly Watt (Bloomsbury)
“¢ Memo from Turner, by Tim Willocks (Jonathan Cape)

CWA Sapere Books Historical Dagger:
“¢ The Quaker, by Liam McIlvanney (Harper Fiction)
“¢ Destroying Angel, by S.G. MacLean: (Quercus)
“¢ Smoke and Ashes, by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker)
“¢ The House on Half Moon Street, by Alex Reeve (Raven)
“¢ Tombland, by C.J. Sansom: (Mantle)
“¢ Blood & Sugar, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle)

CWA International Dagger:
“¢ A Long Night in Paris, by Dov Alfon;
translated by Daniella Zamir (Maclehose Press)
“¢ Weeping Waters, by Karin Brynard;
translated by Maya Fowler and Isobel Dixon (World Noir)
“¢ The Cold Summer, by Gianrico Carofiglio;
translated by Howard Curtis (Bitter Lemon Press)
“¢ Newcomer, by Keigo Higashino;
translated by Giles Murray (Little, Brown)
“¢ The Root of Evil, by HÃ¥kan Nesser;
translated by Sarah Death (Mantle)
“¢ The Forger, by Cay Rademacher;
translated by Peter Millar (Arcadia)

CWA Short Story Dagger:
“¢ “Strangers in a Pub,” by Martin Edwards (from Ten Year Stretch, edited by Martin Edwards and Adrian Muller; No Exit Press)
“¢ “Death Becomes Her,” by Syd Moore (from The Strange Casebook, 
by Syd Moore; Point Blank Books)
“¢ “The Dummies’ Guide to Serial Killing,” by Danuta Reah (from The Dummies’ Guide to Serial Killing and Other Fantastic Female Fables, 
by Danuta Reah [aka Danuta Kot]; Fantastic)
“¢ “I Detest Mozart,” by Teresa Solana (from The First Prehistoric Serial Killer and Other Stories, by Teresa Solana; Bitter Lemon Press)
“¢ “Bag Man,” by Lavie Tidhar (from The Outcast Hours, 
edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin; Solaris)

Dagger in the Library:
“¢ M.C. Beaton
“¢ Mark Billingham
“¢ John Connolly
“¢ Kate Ellis
“¢ C.J. Sansom
“¢ Cath Staincliffe

Debut Dagger
(for the opening of a crime novel by an uncontracted writer):
“¢ Wake, by Shelley Burr
“¢ The Mourning Light, by Jerry Krause
“¢ Hardways, by Catherine Hendricks
“¢ The Firefly, by David Smith
“¢ A Thin Sharp Blade, by Fran Smith

Diamond Dagger Recipient: Robert Goddard

Red Metal by Mark Greaney and Lt. Col. H. Ripley Rawlings IV hits The New York Times Bestseller list on August. 3. However, you’re ahead of the game. You’ll be able to watch the video of their appearance at The Poisoned Pen and order a signed copy of the book through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2o92azg

Here’s the description of Red Metal.

A Russian military strike against Europe could change the balance of power in the West. A stunningly realistic view of modern warfare from a battlefield commander and the New York Times bestselling author of The Gray Man. 

The Russian bear has awakened. Their tanks race across Poland crushing all opposition on a headlong dash for the heart of Germany. Satellite killing missiles blind American forces while Spetznatz teams destroy Allied communications relays. It’s all part of a master plan to confuse and defeat America and her allies.

Ranged against the Russian attack are a Marine lieutenant colonel pulled out of a cushy job at the Pentagon and thrown into the fray, a French Special Forces captain and his intelligence operative father, a young Polish female partisan fighter, an A-10 Warthog pilot, and the captain of an American tank platoon who, along with a German sergeant, struggle to keep a small group of American and German tanks in the fight.

Operation Red Metal is a nightmare scenario made real but could it just be the first move on the Russian chessboard?

*****

You can watch Barbara Peters interview Greaney and Rawlings here.

Once in a while, the publisher Penguin Random House sends a video that you might find interesting. Maureen Callahan is the author of a true crime book, American Predator. You can reserve a copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2YirB1u

Callahan talks about her book as part of the series, “Inside the Book/Meet the Author.”

Here’s what it says on The Poisoned Pen’s website about American Predator.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A Washington Post “10 Books To Read in July”
A Los Angeles Times “Seven Highly Anticipated Books for Summer Reading”
A USA Today “20 of the Season’s Hottest New Books”
A New York Post “25 Best Beach Reads of 2019 You Need to Pre-Order Now” 

“Maureen Callahan’s deft reporting and stylish writing have created one of the all-time-great serial-killer books: sensitive, chilling, and completely impossible to put down.” –Ada Calhoun, author of St. Marks Is Dead 

Ted Bundy. John Wayne Gacy. Jeffrey Dahmer. The names of notorious serial killers are usually well-known; they echo in the news and in public consciousness. But most people have never heard of Israel Keyes, one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history. The FBI considered his behavior unprecedented. Described by a prosecutor as “a force of pure evil,” Keyes was a predator who struck all over the United States. He buried “kill kits”–cash, weapons, and body-disposal tools–in remote locations across the country. Over the course of fourteen years, Keyes would fly to a city, rent a car, and drive thousands of miles in order to use his kits. He would break into a stranger’s house, abduct his victims in broad daylight, and kill and dispose of them in mere hours. And then he would return home to Alaska, resuming life as a quiet, reliable construction worker devoted to his only daughter.

When journalist Maureen Callahan first heard about Israel Keyes in 2012, she was captivated by how a killer of this magnitude could go undetected by law enforcement for over a decade. And so began a project that consumed her for the next several years–uncovering the true story behind how the FBI ultimately caught Israel Keyes, and trying to understand what it means for a killer like Keyes to exist. A killer who left a path of monstrous, randomly committed crimes in his wake–many of which remain unsolved to this day.

American Predator is the ambitious culmination of years of interviews with key figures in law enforcement and in Keyes’s life, and research uncovered from classified FBI files. Callahan takes us on a journey into the chilling, nightmarish mind of a relentless killer, and to the limitations of traditional law enforcement.

Daniel Nieh’s debut crime novel, Beijing Payback, is the July selection for the First Mystery Book Club. Of course, you don’t need to be a member to order a signed copy from the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2YdBttv

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly says, ” This impressive blend of crime and coming-of-age marks Nieh as a talent to watch.” https://bit.ly/2Oj9tVA

Here’s the summary of Beijing Payback.

A fresh, smart, and fast-paced revenge thriller about a college basketball player who discovers shocking truths about his family in the wake of his father’s murder

Victor Li is devastated by his father’s murder, and shocked by a confessional letter he finds among his father’s things. In it, his father admits that he was never just a restaurateur—in fact he was part of a vast international crime syndicate that formed during China’s leanest communist years.

Victor travels to Beijing, where he navigates his father’s secret criminal life, confronting decades-old grudges, violent spats, and a shocking new enterprise that the organization wants to undertake. Standing up against it is likely what got his father killed, but Victor remains undeterred. He enlists his growing network of allies and friends to finish what his father started, no matter the costs.

Laura Lippman’s standalone, Lady in the Lake, is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. It’s quite hot in fact. While the store’s description of the book refers to Lippman as “The revered New York Times bestselling author”, Lady in the Lake was reviewed in The New York Times by another revered author, Stephen King. You can read his review here. https://nyti.ms/2JMCALB

Of course you can order a signed copy of Lady in the Lake through the Web Store. You can also order copies of Lippman’s other books. https://bit.ly/2Sw6oji

Here’s the summary of the current Hot Book of the Week.

The revered New York Times bestselling author returns with a novel set in 1960s Baltimore that combines modern psychological insights with elements of classic noir, about a middle-aged housewife turned aspiring reporter who pursues the murder of a forgotten young woman.

In 1966, Baltimore is a city of secrets that everyone seems to know—everyone, that is, except Madeline “Maddie” Schwartz. Last year, she was a happy, even pampered housewife. This year, she’s bolted from her marriage of almost twenty years, determined to make good on her youthful ambitions to live a passionate, meaningful life. 

Maddie wants to matter, to leave her mark on a swiftly changing world. Drawing on her own secrets, she helps Baltimore police find a murdered girl—assistance that leads to a job at the city’s afternoon newspaper, the Star.Working at the newspaper offers Maddie the opportunity to make her name, and she has found just the story to do it: a missing woman whose body was discovered in the fountain of a city park lake.

Cleo Sherwood was a young black woman who liked to have a good time. No one seems to know or care why she was killed except Maddie—and the dead woman herself. Maddie’s going to find the truth about Cleo’s life and death. Cleo’s ghost, privy to Maddie’s poking and prying, wants to be left alone. 

Maddie’s investigation brings her into contact with people that used to be on the periphery of her life—a jewelry store clerk, a waitress, a rising star on the Baltimore Orioles, a patrol cop, a hardened female reporter, a lonely man in a movie theater. But for all her ambition and drive, Maddie often fails to see the people right in front of her. Her inability to look beyond her own needs will lead to tragedy and turmoil for all sorts of people—including the man who shares her bed, a black police officer who cares for Maddie more than she knows.

Steve Cavanagh, author of Thirteen, will be The Poisoned Pen’s featured author on Thursday, August 22 at 7 PM. Why am I telling you that so far in advance? Cavanagh and Thirteen just won the 2019 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. You’ll want to pre-order your signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/30QyXew

According to the Harrogate Informer, the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award is the most coveted crime writing award in England. You can read the entire announcement, and see a picture of Steve Cavanagh, here. https://bit.ly/30NSlZt

Here’s the description of the award-winning crime novel.

Thirteen is the legal thriller Lee Child, Michael Connelly, and Ruth Ware are raving about and readers can’t put down.

“Outstanding – an intriguing premise, a tense, gripping build-up, and a spectacular climax. This guy is the real deal. Trust me.” —Lee Child

“A dead bang BEAST of a book that expertly combines Cavanagh’s authority on the law with an absolutely great thrill ride. Books this ingenious don’t come along very often.” —Michael Connelly

It’s the murder trial of the century. And Joshua Kane has killed to get the best seat in the house ““ and to be sure the wrong man goes down for the crime. Because this time, the killer isn’t on trial. He’s on the jury.

But there’s someone on his tail. Former-conman-turned-criminal-defense-attorney Eddie Flynn doesn’t believe that his movie-star client killed two people. He suspects that the real killer is closer than they think ““ but who would guess just how close? 

“A brilliant, twisty, ingeniously constructed puzzle of a book. Steve Cavanagh pulls off an enviable premise with panache.” —Ruth Ware

Maggie Robinson is the author of two mysteries featuring Lady Adelaide Compton., Nobody’s Sweetheart Now, and Who’s Sorry Now? The books are set in the 1920s. Both books are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2r5nvfa

Recently, Robinson wrote an article for Bookreporter called “Bright and Young and Who’s Sorry Now?” in which she discussed the 1920s. You might want to read the article for background to the series, or even just information about that time period. https://bit.ly/2LyLVtv

Here’s the description of Who’s Sorry Now?

“If you like a clever mystery, a handsome ghost, and the far-from-bereaved widow who can’t find the elusive killer without Rupert’s help, Who’s Sorry Now? is just your cup of English murder.“—Charles Todd, author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries and the Bess Crawford mysteries

London, England 1925

A Russian prince. A wealthy heir. An impoverished earl’s daughter. Which one will make an untimely exit from the London social scene?

Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Devenand Hunter finds himself in the middle of a series of upper-class deaths in London. Bright Young People are being extinguished in their favorite night spots, from a sleazy private jazz club to the Savoy ballroom. Dev knows just the person to help him navigate the treacherous society waters: Lady Adelaide Compton, a marquess’ daughter and widow of a Great War hero. Unfortunately, he has put her in jeopardy once before, nearly leading him to turn in his warrant card.

But when her sister Cee is nearly one of the victims, Addie turns to Mr. Hunter, offering her help… and it soon becomes clear that the two of them working together again could lead to much more than merely solving crime.

The Lady Adelaide Mysteries:
Nobody’s Sweetheart Now (Book 1)
Who’s Sorry Now? (Book 2)

Susan Hoover recently reviewed Michael Stanley’s latest thriller from Sourcebooks/Poisoned Pen Press, Shoot the Bastards. The review was published in Reviewing the Evidence here, https://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/review.html?id=11331

You can order Stanley’s books, including Shoot the Bastards, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2XYsqMQ

Here’s the description of Shoot the Bastards.

“From Minnesota to South Africa to Mozambique to Vietnam, Michael Stanley’s Shoot the Bastards is an extraordinary tale of the extreme measures taken to combat international poaching and smuggling.”—C.J. Box, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wolf Pack

The black market feeds all appetites…

The dark winter nights of Minnesota seem to close in on investigative journalist Crystal Nguyen as she realizes that her close friend Michael Davidson has disappeared while researching a story on rhino poaching and rhino-horn smuggling in Africa. Crystal, fearing the worst, wrangles her own assignment on the continent. Within a week in Africa she’s been hunting poachers (“Shoot the bastards,” she’s told), hunted by their bosses, and questioned in connection with a murder—and there’s still no sign of Michael.

Crystal quickly realizes how little she knows about Africa and about the war between poachers and conservation officers. What she does know is she must find Michael, and she’s committed to preventing a major plot to secure a huge number of horns… but exposing the financial underworld supporting the rhino-horn market is only half the battle. Equally important is convincing South African authorities to take action before it’s too late—for the rhinos, and for Crystal.

Michael Stanley, author of the award-winning Detective Kubu Mysteries series, introduces an intriguing new protagonist while exposing one of southern Africa’s most vicious conflicts in Shoot the Bastards.

Did you miss Ace Atkins’ recent appearance at The Poisoned Pen on his book tour for The Shameless? If so, Marilyn Stasio’s comments in the recent crime column for The New York Times might make you wish you had been at the store to hear more about Mississippi and Quinn Colson. She talks about The Shameless, but she also covers other crime novels you might want to watch for in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Here’s the link to Marilyn Stasio’s latest column. https://nyti.ms/2M22kpK

Here’s the summary of The Shameless.

Buried secrets, dirty lies, and unbridled greed and ambition raise the stakes down South in the lauded crime series from New York Times bestselling author Ace Atkins.

Twenty years ago, Brandon Taylor was thought to be just another teen boy who ended his life too soon. That’s what almost everyone in Tibbehah County, Mississippi, said after his body and hunting rifle were found in the Big Woods. Now two New York-based reporters show up asking Sheriff Quinn Colson questions about the Taylor case. What happened to the evidence? Where are the missing files? Who really killed Brandon?

Quinn wants to help. After all, his wife Maggie was a close friend of Brandon Taylor. But Quinn was just a kid himself in 1997, and these days he’s got more on his plate than twenty-year-old suspicious death. He’s trying to shut down the criminal syndicate that’s had a stranglehold on Tibbehah for years, trafficking drugs, stolen goods, and young women through the MidSouth. Truck stop madam Fannie Hathcock runs most of that action, and has her eyes on taking over the whole show. And then there’s Senator Jimmy Vardaman, who’s cut out the old political establishment riding the Syndicate’s money and power–plus a hefty helping of racism and ignorance–straight to the governor’s office. If he manages to get elected, the Syndicate will be untouchable. Tibbehah will be lawless. 

Quinn’s been fighting evil and corruption since he was a kid, at home or as a U.S. Army Ranger in Afghanistan and Iraq. This time, evil may win out.

Craig Johnson’s next Walt Longmire mystery, Land of Wolves, isn’t due out until Sept. 17. And, he won’t be at The Poisoned Pen until Sept. 19 for a special ticketed event. But, Scott Montgomery’s piece for CrimeReads is too good to ignore. It’s called “The Evolution of Walt Longmire: Somewhere Between Laughter and Death.” Montgomery summarizes every Walt Longmire novel, in order, so the article is perfect for anyone who wants to catch up with the series, or start from the beginning. You can find it here. https://bit.ly/2YZMM9F

Craig Johnson has come to The Poisoned Pen for every book, beginning with the first Longmire book, The Cold Dish. You can order the books through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2Qmogf5

Here’s the summary of the forthcoming book, Land of Wolves.

The new novel in Craig Johnson’s beloved New York Times bestselling Longmire series.

Attempting to recover from his harrowing experiences in Mexico, in Land of Wolves Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire is neck deep in the investigation of what could or could not be the suicidal hanging of a shepherd. With unsettling connections to a Basque family with a reputation for removing the legs of Absaroka County sheriffs, matters become even more complicated with the appearance of an oversize wolf in the Big Horn Mountains to which Walt finds himself feeling more and more empathetic.

*****

As I said, Johnson will appear for The Poisoned Pen on Sept. 19 at a special ticketed event. But, I thought readers would appreciate Scott Montgomery’s article now.