PoisonedBlogger

Are you a fan of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series? You can check for her books in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2DVhCdn

Would you like to see how Diana Gabaldon crafts a sentence? Here’s a fun video.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbJ1Hn55nOw?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

It’s always fun to introduce a debut author to readers. Tom Hunt just appeared at the Poisoned Pen, and author Stephen Coonts had the opportunity to introduce him to his first audience. His debut thriller is Killer Choice. You can be one of the first to discover his writing, and order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2FxOaWS

Here’s the summary of the book.

“Terrific…full of shocks and twists you won’t see coming—unputdownable and highly recommended!”—Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author

The electrifying debut thriller that asks the question: To save the one you love, is there any price you wouldn’t pay?
 
His wife is sick.
He needs $200,000 to save her.
A mysterious man offers to give him the money with just one catch: He has to murder someone to get it.
 
Gary Foster’s life is finally heading in the right direction. After years of trying, his wife, Beth, is pregnant, and he recently opened a business with his brother. But one phone call changes everything….

After collapsing suddenly, Beth has been rushed to the hospital. Tests reveal a devastating diagnosis: an inoperable brain tumor. Their only hope is an expensive experimental treatment available abroad, with a cost that’s out of their reach. And Beth’s time is running out….

Then a strange man approaches Gary and offers the money he needs, on one condition: that he kill someone, no questions asked. End one life to save another.

In this nail-biting debut novel of domestic suspense, one man makes a choice that forces him to confront the darkest reaches of his soul and betray those closest to him. As he’s swept up in a nightmare of escalating violence, he must question his own morality—and determine just how far he’s willing to go to save the woman he loves.

*****

And, you can “meet” Tom Hunt here, in his Livestream interview with Stephen Coonts.  https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/8036637

You may remember the lists of favorite crime novels from the other authors appeared earlier in the month. Donis Casey and I agreed that her post would go up close to release date for her latest Alafair Tucker mystery. Tuesday, Feb. 6 will see the tenth book in the Alafair Tucker series, Forty Dead Men. You can pre-order signed copies through the Web Store. Or, you could order earlier books in this series, books with catchy titles based on expressions once common in Oklahoma. https://bit.ly/2F9BIwo

Alafair Tucker is an Oklahoma farm wife and mother of nine in the early twentieth century. Each mystery revolves around one of Alafair’s family members. Here’s the summary of Forty Dead Men.

Some people who have experienced a shocking, dangerous, or terrifying event develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is recognized today as a debilitating but potentially treatable mental health condition. Military veterans are a vulnerable group. But PTSD can deliver a knockout blow to anyone, as the remarkable unfolding of the tenth Alafair Tucker Mystery, Forty Dead Men, shows.

World War I is over. Alafair is overjoyed that her elder son, George Washington Tucker, has finally returned home from the battlefields of France. Yet she is the only one in the family who senses that he has somehow changed.

Gee Dub moves back into his old bunkhouse quarters, but he’s restless and spends his days roaming. One rainy day while out riding he spies a woman trudging along the country road. She’s thoroughly skittish and rejects his help. So Gee Dub cannily rides for home to enlist his mother in offering the exhausted traveler shelter.

Once made comfortable at the Tucker farm, Holly Johnson reveals she’s forged her way from Maine to Oklahoma in hopes of finding the soldier she married before he shipped to France. At the war’s end, Daniel Johnson disappeared without a trace. It’s been months. Is he alive? Is she a widow?

Holly is following her only lead – that Dan has connected with his parents who live yonder in Okmulgee. Gee Dub, desperate for some kind of mission, resolves to shepherd Holly through her quest although the prickly young woman spurns any aid. Meanwhile, Alafair has discovered that Gee Dub sleeps with two cartridge boxes under his pillow – boxes containing twenty “dead men” each. The boxes are empty, save for one bullet. She recognizes in Gee Dub and Holly that not all war wounds are physical.

Then Holly’s missing husband turns up, shot dead. Gee Dub is arrested on suspicion of murder, and the entire extended Tucker family rallies to his defense. He says he had no reason to do it, but the solitary bullet under Gee Dub’s pillow is gone. Regardless, be he guilty or innocent, his mother will travel any distance and go to any lengths to keep him out of prison.

*****

I knew Donis is quite busy between writing and family responsibilities. I appreciate her time. Thank you, Donis, for these suggestions. Readers can look for her favorites in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

*****

The Secret, Book, and Scone Society, by Ellery Adams.

I love the premise of this first novel in Adams’ new series. Nora Pennington, the owner of Miracle Books in Miracle Springs North Carolina, has the uncanny ability to recommend the perfect books to her patrons to help them solve their problems. She and three other women form the Secret, Book, and Scone Society to try and figure out if a death which has been ruled a suicide is really a murder—and end up sharing secrets from their own painful pasts. I always knew that books have magical properties, and this novel proves it.

Fool’s River, by Timothy Hallinan.

An emergency visit from Edward Dell, the almost-boyfriend of Poke Rafferty’s teenage daughter, Miaow, sends Poke on a frantic search to locate the boy’s father, Buddy, a middle-aged “sexpat” who has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. I get lost in Hallinan’s dense, poetic prose. Every time I crack open a Poke Rafferty mystery, I can count on feeling the heat, smelling the dust and spice and funk of Bangkok. Fool’s River does not disappoint. I’ve been following Poke, Rose, and Miaow since A Nail Through the Heart, first in the series. It’s been deeply satisfying to see these three solitary souls cohere into a true family over the course of eight novels. I care what happens to Poke and his family and friends as though they are real people.

Holding, by Graham Norton.

Graham Norton is a British comedian and television personality, so his wistful debut novel is a surprising departure from his usual fare. Norton’s protagonist, Sergeant PJ Collins, is a lonely, overweight policeman in the tiny town of Duneen, Ireland. PJ has never had to deal with any really serious crime, not until the construction crew at a new housing development digs up human bones. PJ doesn’t have much faith in his own abilities, and neither, it seems, does anyone else in the county. I love a misfit character who rises to the occasion, and Norton has created a true original in PJ.

A Useful Woman, by Darcie Wilde.

Wilde’s description of the fashionable world of early 19th Century London, with it’s false facade of manners and propriety, is spot on. Resourceful Rosalind Thorne may have lost everything, including her place in society, when she and her mother were abandoned by her profligate father, but she has managed to maintain a precarious place among the elite by becoming a “useful woman” who manages the affairs of wealthy ladies. Historical novels are my first literary love, and if an author can create such a vivid portrait of a time and place that I feel like I have actually lived there awhile, that is jake with me. Wilde does it admirably in this impressive first novel in her Regency mystery series.

*****

Thank you, again, Donis. And, readers? You should be checking out Donis’ Alafair Tucker books.

Malice Domestic has announced the nominations for the 2017 Agatha Awards. The Agathas are given for traditional mysteries published during 2017. They will be presented at the Agatha Awards banquet on April 28. The attendees at Malice Domestic 30 will vote for the winners. Congratulations to all of the nominees. Look for the mysteries in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Best Contemporary Novel 
Death Overdue: A Haunted Library Mystery by Allison Brook (Crooked Lane Books)
A Cajun Christmas Killing: A Cajun Country Mystery by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
No Way Home: A Zoe Chambers Mystery by Annette Dashofy (Henery Press)
Take Out by Margaret Maron (Grand Central Publishing)
Glass Houses: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)

Best Historical Novel 
In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union Publishing)
Murder in an English Village: A Beryl and Edwina Mystery by Jessica Ellicott (Kensington)
Called to Justice: A Quaker Midwife Mystery by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink)
The Paris Spy: A Maggie Hope Mystery by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam)
Dangerous to Know: A Lillian Frost and Edith Head Novel by Renee Patrick (Forge)

Best First Novel 
Adrift: A Mer Cavallo Mystery by Micki Browning (Alibi-Random House)
The Plot is Murder: Mystery Bookshop by V.M. Burns (Kensington)
Hollywood Homicide: A Detective by Day Mystery by Kellye Garrett (Midnight Ink)
Daughters of Bad Men by Laura Oles (Red Adept Publishing)
Protocol: A Maggie O’Malley Mystery by Kathleen Valenti (Henery Press)

Best Nonfiction 
From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon by Mattias Boström (Mysterious Press)
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards (Poisoned Pen Press)
American Fire: Love, Arson and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse (Liveright Publishing Corp.)
Rewrite Your Life: Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction by Jess Lourey (Conari Press) Manderley
Forever: A Biography of Daphne du Maurier by Tatiana de Rosnay (St. Martin’s Press)

Best Short Story 
Double Deck the Halls by Gretchen Archer (Henery Press)
“Whose Wine is it Anyway” by Barb Goffman in 50 Shades of Cabernet (Koehler Books)
“The Night They Burned Miss Dixie’s Place” by Debra Goldstein in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (May/June 2017)
“The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn” by Gigi Pandian (Henery Press)
“A Necessary Ingredient” by Art Taylor in Cost to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Seat (Down & Out Books)

Best Children’s/Young Adult 
City of Angels by Kristi Belcamino (Polis Books)
Sydney Mackenzie Knocks ‘Em Dead by Cindy Callaghan (Aladdin)
The World’s Greatest Detective by Caroline Carlson (HarperCollins)
Audacity Jones Steals the Show by Kirby Larson (Scholastic Press)
The Harlem Charade by Natasha Tarpley (Scholastic Press)

Are you familiar with the current Hot Book of the Week at the Poisoned Pen? It’s Mick Herron’s This Is What Happened. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2nbwTMJ

Here’s the summary.

From CWA Gold & Steel Dagger winner Mick Herron comes a shocking, twisted novel of thrilling suspense about one woman’s attempt to be better than ordinary.

Twenty-six-year-old Maggie Barnes is someone you would never look at twice. Living alone in a month-to-month sublet in the huge city of London, with no family but an estranged sister, no boyfriend or partner, and not much in the way of friends, Maggie is just the kind of person who could vanish from the face of the earth without anyone taking notice. Or just the kind of person MI5 needs to infiltrate the establishment and thwart an international plot that puts all of Britain at risk.

Now one young woman has the chance to be a hero—if she can think quickly enough to stay alive.

Once in a while, we like to throw something unusual at you. AtlasObscura.com has fascinating tidbits of information. Alexander J. Zawacki just had an article called “How a Library Handles a Rare and Deadly Book of Wallpaper Samples”. Thinking of writing a mystery? You never know where you might stumble on an idea. Here’s the link to Zawacki’s article. https://bit.ly/2BuhIlX

James Anderson, author of Lullaby Road, was just here at the Poisoned Pen, and Patrick Millikin interviewed him. Before I give you several other links, here’s the link to the Web Store if you want to order a signed copy. https://bit.ly/2mOjfyL

There are several links to share for this event. First, if you’d like to see Patrick’s interview with this fascinating storyteller, you can watch it on Livestream. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/8028223

In the course of the interview, Anderson refers to an interview he did with Kaye Barley. He also talks about his book trailer for Lullaby Road, one with original music. Those can both be seen on this blog. Here’s the link to the interview and the book trailer, featured on Jan. 19. https://bit.ly/2DOxXgn

If you’ve read any of Dana Stabenow’s books, you know how important the setting is. Her most recent book, Silk and Song, takes place along the Silk Road. Her Kate Shugak mysteries, such as the latest in the series, Less Than a Treason, takes place in Alaska. You can find copies, including signed ones of Silk and Song, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2F9m0Bq

And, just recently, you could find Dana herself talking about the background of the books on “Imported Ink”. Here’s the link to Stabenow’s guest blog, “Between Two Continents with Dana Stabenow”. https://bit.ly/2DDbBSw

Of course, you can always find interesting pieces on Dana Stabenow’s own site, https://stabenow.com/

We know everyone can’t make all of the events at the Poisoned Pen. Fortunately, you can watch and listen to many of them via Livestream. Christopher Reich kicks off a new series with his novel, The Take. You can find signed copies through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2DvUca2

Here’s the description.

From New York Times bestselling author Christopher Reich, an international spy thriller featuring Simon Riske: one part James Bond, one part Jack Reacher

Here’s a Hot Book of the Week you might not recognize, Neil Olson’s The Black Painting. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2FUwwxD

Here’s the summary.

An old-money East Coast family faces the suspicious death of its patriarch and the unsolved theft of a Goya painting rumored to be cursed

There are four cousins in the Morse family: perfect Kenny, the preppy West Coast lawyer; James, the shy but brilliant medical student; his seductive, hard-drinking sister Audrey; and Teresa, youngest and most fragile, haunted by the fear that she has inherited the madness that possessed her father.

Their grandfather summons them to his mansion at Owl’s Point. None of them have visited the family estate since they were children, when a prized painting disappeared: a self-portrait by Goya, rumored to cause madness or death upon viewing. Afterward, the family split apart amid the accusations and suspicions that followed its theft.

Any hope that their grandfather planned to make amends evaporates when Teresa arrives to find the old man dead, his horrified gaze pinned upon the spot where the painting once hung. As the family gathers and suspicions mount, Teresa hopes to find the reasons behind her grandfather’s death and the painting’s loss. But to do so she must uncover ugly family secrets and confront those who would keep them hidden.

A masterful, deftly plotted novel, The Black Painting explores the profound power that art, and the past, hold over our lives.