PoisonedBlogger

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed Bryan Gruley back to the bookstore to talk about his latest book, Bitterfrost. The Pen sold out of the signed books, but you can still order a copy of the book through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4ib8gs4

Here’s the description of Bitterfrost, a book with terrific reviews. Peters reads a few of the reviews.

The first in a brand-new crime thriller series from Edgar nominee and Pulitzer Prize–winning author Bryan Gruley. Feisty defence attorney Devyn Payne faces off against veteran detective Garth Klimmek as they work to solve a vicious double homicide in their small, icy town of Bitterfrost.

Thirteen years ago, former ice hockey star Jimmy Baker quit the game after almost killing an opponent. Now, as the Zamboni driver for the amateur team in his hometown of Bitterfrost, Michigan, he’s living his penance. Until the morning he awakens to the smell of blood . . .

Jimmy soon finds himself arrested for a brutal double murder. The kicker? He has no memory of the night in question. And as the evidence racks up against him, Jimmy’s case is skating on thin ice. Could he have committed such a gruesome crime?

As his defence attorney Devyn Payne and prosecuting detective Garth Klimmek race to uncover the truth, time is running out for Jimmy. Because all he can really be sure of is that he is capable of taking a life. The question is, in his blacked-out state, did he take two?

This gritty drama is the first in the Bitterfrost series, perfect for fans of Dennis Lehane!

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Bryan Gruley is the Edgar-nominated author of six novels and one award-winning work of nonfiction. A lifelong journalist, he shared in The Wall Street Journal‘s Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the September 11 terrorist attacks. He lives in northern lower Michigan with his wife, Pamela.

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Enjoy the conversation with Bryan Gruley.

It seems as if I’m only writing tributes in the last weeks, to Kerry Greenwood, Peter Lovesey, and now Andrew Gross. May they all rest in peace.

A personal Arizona story. I met Andrew Gross and his wife, Lynn, at a birthday party in Tucson. We had dinner. The next day, I went to see Andrew at the Tucson Festival of Books. Andrew looked awful, but he managed to make it through his program. He had food poisoning from the night before.

Gross appeared at The Poisoned Pen several times. He wrote some books with James Patterson before he wrote thrillers on his own. But, I want to share an interview for Gross’ most personal book, Button Man. It’s based on the story of Gross’ own family, a Jewish family working in the garment industry. You would have to place a special order for Button Man. https://bit.ly/3YvwrdJ

Andrew Gross said Button Man is really a depiction of the origin of an industry, but also a depiction of organized crime in New York.

Patrick Millikin did an excellent interview with Andrew Gross. It’s a pleasure to hear him talk about his family and New York City history. It’s worth watching, one last time.

Andrew Gross. May he rest in peace.

We’ve lost a great one. Peter Lovesey died yesterday. He was a Diamond Dagger award winner and received the Grand Master Award from Mystery Writers of America. Janet Rudolph published a beautiful tribute to Lovesey on her blog, Mystery Fanfare – https://bit.ly/3FY7CRs.

Lovesey was the author of Sergeant Cribb mysteries; Bertie, Prince of Wales; and the Superintendent Peter Diamond books. He also wrote books as Peter Lear. You can find many of his books through the Webstore, https://bit.ly/42go5Yo.

We’re all going to miss Peter Lovesey, but I know Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, was a friend of his. She did a wonderful interview with him when his last book was released, Against the Grain.

Peter Lovesey was the author of more than forty highly praised mystery novels including the Peter Diamond investigations and the Sergeant Cribb investigations. He has been honored with the two highest awards in mystery fiction, Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America and the Cartier Diamond Dagger of the Crime Writers’ Association as well as many other international accolades. He lived in Shrewsbury, England.

Peter Lovesey, may he rest in peace.

Although Kelly Mullen’s book, This is Not a Game, was already released in the U.K., this week was release date for the book in the U.S. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, hosted the release party which included champagne and cookies shaped like dachshunds.

You can still pick up a signed copy of This is Not a Game through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3XUlsdH

Here’s the description of the debut novel, This is Not a Game.

MURDER
MARTINIS
A GRANDMOTHER-GRANDDAUGHTER SLEUTHING DUO
DACHSHUNDS (x2)
A GLAMOROUS ISLAND MANOR

Widow Mimi lives on idyllic Mackinac Island, where cars are not allowed and a Gibson martini with three onions at the witching hour is compulsory. Her estranged granddaughter, Addie, is getting over the heartbreak of not only being dumped by her fiancé, Brian, but also being cut out of the deal for the brilliantly successful video game?Murderscape they invented together (with Addie doing most of the heavy lifting).

When Mimi gets an invitation from local socialite Jane Ireland—a seventysomething narcissist who’s having a salacious affair with her son-in-law—to a charity auction, she invites Addie. But Mimi doesn’t tell her that a blackmail threat from Jane looms over the party’s invitation.

Once they arrive, a big storm rolls in, trapping everyone in the mansion. And then, Jane is murdered. Soon Mimi and Addie’s strained relationship is put to the test when they must team up to narrow down the suspects. When another body turns up, the sleuthing pair realize someone else is playing a deadly game, and they might not survive the night.

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Kelly Mullen is an author, producer and marketing executive. Her creative work for brands has won over fifty awards, including Cannes Lions and Clios. As an executive producer, her credits include the Academy Award-nominated film Trumbo, starring Bryan Cranston and Helen Mirren, and the Apple TV+ documentary Dads, produced with Ron Howard. Born and raised in Iowa, Kelly is now a dual citizen of the UK and US. She lives in London with her husband and their rescue cats.

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Enjoy the interview with Kelly Mullen.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed Steve Cavanagh to the bookstore. There are signed copies of Cavanagh’s new book, Witness 8, available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3RapJ9a

Here’s the description of Witness 8.

NSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER

Author of the “unguessable and unputdownable” (Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author) Kill For Me, Kill for You, the master of psychological thrillers Steve Cavanagh returns.

What if the witness was more twisted than the killer?

Something is wrong with Ruby Johnson.

A former resident of the ultra-elite Manhattan upper class, Ruby now works as a maid in the type of houses she used to live in. Unassuming, she sees everyone’s dirty secrets from the inside of their beautiful, renovated brownstones. But when Ruby witnesses a murder, she has wicked plans in mind that don’t involve telling the authorities the truth.

Eddie Flynn, streetwise ex con-artist-turned-defense attorney, is the only lawyer in New York City willing to take on hopeless cases. And none is more hopeless than John Jackson’s—the gun that killed his neighbor found, with Jackson’s DNA, in his own home. Flynn and his unconventional team will need to use every trick they know to keep an innocent man from being locked up. But to save his client’s life, Eddie must first protect his own, as the scariest organized criminals in the city are out for his head.

Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Megan Miranda, Witness 8 is a fresh knockout page-turner from an author who is “the real deal” (Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author).

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Steve Cavanagh is the bestselling and award-winning author of several books, including the Eddie Flynn series and Kill for Me, Kill for You. A former lawyer, he was born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he still lives. Find out more at SteveCavanaghAuthor.com.

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Enjoy the conversation with Steve Cavanagh.

The British Library Crime Classics are popular books at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, with the introductions by Martin Edwards. They’re published by Sourcebooks/Poisoned Pen Press. This week, Dana Stabenow reviews Mary Kelly’s The Spoilt Kill, which is available through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3BuXBcx

Mary Kelly’s The Spoilt Kill beat out John le Carre’s Call for the Dead for the Gold Dagger Award in 1961, and now I know why. This book is exquisitely written, with a totally character-driven plot in a fully realized workplace setting (a commercial pottery). The detective is undercover on a case of industrial espionage and the pottery’s accountant is found murdered by, well, let’s just say by clay.

But this is one of those books that is about far more than its mystery. I’ll excerpt one sample for you.

“…But you heard what Dart said. “You have to have these things.” Have to. Obligation. England the great mercantile nation, rolling in prosperity, measures poverty against a new list of basic possessions. And it’s no longer a pity to be poor, a misfortune, it’s a disgrace, a stigma, a reflection on your character, a condition you daren’t permit to be seen, like syphilis. Perhaps I exaggerate.”

No, he doesn’t. Who says we need that enormous TV, that flashy car, that McMansion? That is a passage that could have been written today and be just as relevant now as it was then. The sheer pettiness of the motive for the espionage rings horribly true.

Be aware, this is not a light-hearted read and there is no HEA, but on a level of craft it reads as well as le Carre himself ever did. I especially recommend it to my writing friends.

N.B.: I will say this and no more in criticism [SPOILER]:

Nicholson is meant to have been disappointed in love at the end, but my feeling is he really dodged a bullet there.

Kerry Greenwood, author of the historical detective Phryne Fisher mysteries, died last week, according to ABC News. https://ab.co/4jpXNdt.

Australian author Kerry Greenwood, who died in Melbourne on March 26 aged 70. (Supplied: Allen & Unwin)

Although Greenwood was Australian, her Phryne Fisher mysteries were published here in the United States by Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks.

Over the course of her career, The Poisoned Pen bookstore published a number of blog pieces about her books, the fashion in the shows, the Phryne Fisher shows themselves.

Kerry Greenwood. May she rest in peace.

Guest host Liana de la Rosa recently welcomed Melissa Marr to The Poisoned Pen. Marr is the author of A Course in Magic series, including the latest book, The Reluctant Witch. There are signed copies available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4iWN8qz

Here’s the description of The Reluctant Witch.

The Magicians meets One Last Stop in the sequel to Remedial Magic by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr!

After discovering she’s a witch and being whisked away to the magical land of Crenshaw, Ellie wants nothing more than to spend time with her new wife, Prospero, who has magically altered Ellie’s memories to convince her of exactly that.

Prospero herself is guilt-wracked after erasing Ellie’s memories and being forced into a sham marriage with the woman she loves for real. But Crenshaw is dying, poisoned by Prospero’s enemies who want their community to return to the human world, and she will do anything to save it.

The most powerful witch in anyone’s memory is in Prospero’s home, in her bed, with no idea that she’s a prisoner there… yet.

As the very fabric of their world is being destroyed, Ellie and Prospero must find a way to work together and save the world, and themselves.

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Melissa Marr writes fiction for adults, teens, and children. Her books have been translated into over 25 languages and been bestsellers in the US (New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal) as well as overseas. Wicked Lovely, her debut novel, was an instant New York Times bestseller and evolved into an internationally bestselling multi-book series with a myriad of accolades. If she’s not writing, you can find her in a kayak or on a trail with her wife.

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Enjoy the conversation with Melissa Marr.

If you’ve been following the blog for a few years, you may be aware of Dana Stabenow’s project, Storyknife.

Overlooking Cook Inlet and the heart-stopping grandeur of the Aleutian Mountain Range, Storyknife Writers Retreat, a literary nonprofit located in Homer, Alaska, hosts residencies for women from Alaska, across the United States, and internationally. Our mission is to give women writers the time and space to explore their craft without distraction. Storyknife provides women with a community to support their efforts, lifting their voices.

Here’s the latest about Storyknife.

https://blog.stabenow.com/2025/04/01/welcome-to-the-first-storyknife-writers-of-2025/

Patrick King from The Poisoned Pen welcomed debut author Allison Gunn for a virtual event. There are still copies of Nowhere available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3E78vGz

Here’s the description of Nowhere.

Mare of Easttown meets The Outsider in this spine-tingling and twisty debut about a series of disappearances in a small, fundamentalist town and what one broken family must do to remain together as dark forces close in.

After losing her young son in an accident, Rachel Kennan throws herself into her career as police chief of a small Virginia town to avoid focusing on her grief. Meanwhile, her husband, Finn, a washed-up writer whose alcoholism led to the devastating tragedy that changed everything, struggles to redeem himself before his family completely falls apart. Their two daughters are the only things keeping Rachel and Finn together, but the girls have demons of their own.

At the same time, a disturbing crime rocks their tightknit, religious community, sending Rachel chasing leads in a place that does not take kindly to outsiders. When an ominous force in the forest starts calling to the children, fear spawns hate among the townspeople, placing the Kennan family directly in the line of fire. Left with no choice but to rely on each other, Rachel and Finn must come together to face threats inside and out.

A haunting family saga and a disquieting horror debut, Nowhere draws from Appalachian folklore to caution us that true terror is what we bury in our own hearts.

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Allison Gunn is a professional researcher, writer, and podcaster with a penchant for all things whimsical and strange. An alum of the University of Maryland, she has extensively studied marginalized communities as well as Appalachian folklore and the occult. She currently resides in the wonderfully weird land of West Virginia with her twin daughters, a precocious pup, and one seriously troubled tabby. Nowhere is her first novel. 

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Enjoy meeting Allison Gunn, a debut author.