It’s always fascinating to see how the conversations can wander when Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomes and visits with authors. She recently hosted Marcia Clark, on book tour for Snap Judgment, and Robert Dugoni, on release date for his new book, Close to Home.

Signed copies of the books are available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Now, you can listen and watch the fascinating discussion on Livestream. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/7649415

(And, thank you to Bob Dugoni for permission to use the photo of the two authors.)

Kristen Lepionka, author of The Last Place You Look, recently wrote a piece called “Top 10 Female Detectives in Fiction” for The Guardian. You can read her article here.  https://bit.ly/2xMnzST

You can also order Lepionka’s own novel featuring a female detective, The Last Place You Look, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2gDtXnP

I’ll give you one hint from Lepionka’s list. Appearing at #4 is Rachel Howzell Hall, author of City of Saviors. She’ll be at The Poisoned Pen on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 2 PM to discuss and sign her new book. You can order a signed copy. https://bit.ly/2wC4VP5

Here’s the description of Hall’s new book featuring Los Angeles Homicide Detective Elouise Norton.

“A fresh voice in crime fiction. Fast, funny, heartbreaking and wise…Elouise Norton is the best new character you’ll meet this year.”–Lee Child

“Hall deserves to be compared to Kathy Reichs or Patricia Cornwell, and it will not be long before she is recognized as every bit as big a crime writing star.”–Daily Mail (UK)

Los Angeles Homicide Detective Elouise Norton encounters her toughest case yet in City of Saviors, the fourth installment in the critically acclaimed mystery series from author Rachel Howzell Hall.

After a long Labor Day weekend, seventy-three-year-old Eugene Washington is found dead in his Leimert Park home. At first blush, his death seems unremarkable—heatwave combined with food poisoning from a holiday barbecue. But something in the way Washington died doesn’t make sense. LAPD Homicide Detective Elouise “Lou” Norton is called to investigate the death and learns that the only family Washington had was the 6,000-member congregation of Blessed Mission Ministries, led by Bishop Solomon Tate.

But something wicked is lurking among the congregants of this church.

Lou’s partner, Detective Colin Taggert, thinks her focus on the congregation comes from her distrust of organized religion. But Lou is convinced that the murderer is sitting in one of those red velvet pews—and that Bishop Tate may be protecting the wolf in the flock. Lou must force the truth into the light and confront her own demons in order to save another soul before it’s too late.

“Hall has created a strong and likable African American detective who rivals Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch in grit, intelligence, and tenacity.”–Library Journal(starred review)

Jonathan Kellerman and his son, Jesse Kellerman, will be at The Poisoned Pen on Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 6:30 PM to discuss and sign their book, Crime Scene. Signed copies are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2w0YgdP

Here’s the summary.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “¢ A former star athlete turned deputy coroner is drawn into a brutal, complicated murder in this psychological thriller from a father-son writing team that delivers “brilliant, page-turning fiction” (Stephen King).

Natural causes or foul play? That’s the question Clay Edison must answer each time he examines a body. Figuring out motives and chasing down suspects aren’t part of his beat—not until a seemingly open-and-shut case proves to be more than meets his highly trained eye.

Eccentric, reclusive Walter Rennert lies cold at the bottom of his stairs. At first glance the scene looks straightforward: a once-respected psychology professor, done in by booze and a bad heart. But his daughter Tatiana insists that her father has been murdered, and she persuades Clay to take a closer look at the grim facts of Rennert’s life.

What emerges is a history of scandal and violence, and an experiment gone horribly wrong that ended in the brutal murder of a coed. Walter Rennert, it appears, was a broken man—and maybe a marked one. And when Clay learns that a colleague of Rennert’s died in a nearly identical manner, he begins to question everything in the official record.

All the while, his relationship with Tatiana is evolving into something forbidden. The closer they grow, the more determined he becomes to catch her father’s killer—even if he has to overstep his bounds to do it.

The twisting trail Clay follows will lead him into the darkest corners of the human soul. It’s his job to listen to the tales the dead tell. But this time, he’s part of a story that makes his blood run cold.

*****

Before you come to the event or before you read the book, you might want a little background. Frances Dinkelspiel wrote an article for Berkeleyside.com called, “In Jesse Kellerman’s bestselling crime novel, Berkeley is a character”,  and sent the link so we could share it with readers.  https://bit.ly/2xKTdAa

I think you’ll want to check it out.

Did you miss Louise Penny’s event this past weekend for The Poisoned Pen? I did, and I wish I had been able to be there. She’s on book tour for Glass Houses, the new Armand Gamache mystery. We still have signed copies for sale in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2eTzlmC

Here’s what we missed.

Looks like it was a fun event. Next year, we all need to try to make it for the program!

Tess Gerritsen will be at The Poisoned Pen on Monday, Sept. 4 at 4 PM to discuss her new book, I Know a Secret. That title is this week’s Hot Book of the Week.

Even if you can’t be there, you can order a signed copy of the book through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2vTJRjE

Here’s the summary.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “¢ Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles—the inspiration for the smash hit TNT series—continue their bestselling crime-solving streak, as they pursue a shadowy psychopath keeping secrets and taking lives.

“Suspense doesn’t get smarter than this.”—Lee Child

Two separate homicides, at different locations, with unrelated victims, have more in common than just being investigated by Boston PD detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles. In both cases, the bodies bear startling wounds—yet the actual cause of death is unknown. It’s a doubly challenging case for the cop and the coroner to be taking on, at a fraught time for both of them. As Jane struggles to save her mother from the crumbling marriage that threatens to bury her, Maura grapples with the imminent death of her own mother—infamous serial killer Amalthea Lank.

While Jane tends to her mother, there’s nothing Maura can do for Amalthea, except endure one final battle of wills with the woman whose shadow has haunted her all her life. Though succumbing to cancer, Amalthea hasn’t lost her taste for manipulating her estranged daughter—this time by dangling a cryptic clue about the two bizarre murders Maura and Jane are desperately trying to solve.

But whatever the dying convict knows is only a piece of the puzzle. Soon the investigation leads to a secretive young woman who survived a shocking abuse scandal, an independent horror film that may be rooted in reality, and a slew of martyred saints who died cruel and unusual deaths. And just when Rizzoli and Isles think they’ve cornered a devilish predator, the long-buried past rears its head—and threatens to engulf more innocent lives, including their own.

Praise for I Know a Secret: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel

“Tess Gerritsen brings back Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles to tackle another baffling mystery . . . weaving a thriller that slowly unfolds in unexpected ways. . . . Rizzoli and Isles feel like real people, and readers who are fans of either the book series or the former TV show know there’s an emotional angle to the proceedings and care about everything that happens to the duo. . . . Gerritsen writes effortlessly, and this is another stellar entry in the series.”—The Washington Post

“The unforgettable team of Rizzoli and Isles is back working on a chilling and difficult case. . . . The twists and turns this novel takes will force Gerritsen’s heroines to face difficult emotions and their own biases. As always, Gerritsen is a master storyteller!”—RT Book Reviews

“The characters converge in dynamic, diabolical ways and, in doing so, reveal past events that continue to haunt the present day. . . . Gerritsen continues to surprise with the depth and range of her storytelling ambitions. . . . Like the best of big-screen boogeyman blockbusters, there’s complex villainy, a distortion between appearance and reality, and a third-act plot twist that will both surprise and satisfy. This one’s a tasty treat with substance.”—CriminalElement.com

“Be prepared for an exciting ride with unexpected twists and terrific writing.”—Library Journal

In a recent newsletter, Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, mentioned that we will not have signed copies of John le Carré’s latest novel, A Legacy of Spies. You can still order a copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2iNH36u

There’s a great deal of buzz around this new book. Here’s the summary.

The undisputed master returns with a riveting new book—his first Smiley novel in more than twenty-five years 

Peter Guillam, staunch colleague and disciple of George Smiley of the British Secret Service, otherwise known as the Circus, is living out his old age on the family farmstead on the south coast of Brittany when a letter from his old Service summons him to London. The reason? His Cold War past has come back to claim him. Intelligence operations that were once the toast of secret London, and involved such characters as Alec Leamas, Jim Prideaux, George Smiley and Peter Guillam himself, are to be scrutinized by a generation with no memory of the Cold War and no patience with its justifications.

Interweaving past with present so that each may tell its own intense story, John le Carré has spun a single plot as ingenious and thrilling as the two predecessors on which it looks back: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. In a story resonating with tension, humor and moral ambivalence, le Carré and his narrator Peter Guillam present the reader with a legacy of unforgettable characters old and new.

*****

Dwight Garner reviewed A Legacy of Spies in The New York Times‘ Books of the Times article, “George Smiley and Other Old Friends Return in John le Carré’s ‘A Legacy of Spies’.  https://nyti.ms/2vD1O5Q

Perhaps the most riveting article is also in The New York Times, Sarah Lyall’s “Spies Like Us: A Conversation With John le Carré and Ben Macintyre”. https://nyti.ms/2vuRw80

If you haven’t yet had your fill, check out David Cranmer’s annotated list of books in Criminal Element, “Into the Cold: A George Smiley Primer”.  https://bit.ly/2wYtNly

It’s enough to make you want to buy a copy of the book, isn’t it?

I hope you enjoy the Livestream events at The Poisoned Pen as much as I do. I miss attending the programs, and Livestream makes me feel as if I was there. T. Jefferson Parker and William Kent Krueger just made their first joint appearance at the bookstore. Here’s the link so you can watch it. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/7649386

The authors both have new books out, and they discuss them on Livestream. You can order signed copies of T. Jefferson Parker’s The Room of White Fire and William Kent Krueger’s Sulfur Springs through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Penguin Random House recently did a PaperCuts video with Michael Poore, author of Reincarnation Blues. They called it “8 Great Questions”. Well, there are eight book-related questions. https://bit.ly/2g9ihMW

Here’s Poore’s novel, Reincarnation Blues, which is available to order through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2vG8Wzo

A wildly imaginative novel about a man who is reincarnated over ten thousand lifetimes to be with his one true love: Death herself.

“Tales of gods and men akin to Neil Gaiman’s Sandman as penned by a kindred spirit of Douglas Adams.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

First we live. Then we die. And then . . . we get another try? 

Ten thousand tries, to be exact. Ten thousand lives to “get it right.” Answer all the Big Questions. Achieve Wisdom. And Become One with Everything.

Milo has had 9,995 chances so far and has just five more lives to earn a place in the cosmic soul. If he doesn’t make the cut, oblivion awaits. But all Milo really wants is to fall forever into the arms of Death. Or Suzie, as he calls her.

More than just Milo’s lover throughout his countless layovers in the Afterlife, Suzie is literally his reason for living—as he dives into one new existence after another, praying for the day he’ll never have to leave her side again.

But Reincarnation Blues is more than a great love story: Every journey from cradle to grave offers Milo more pieces of the great cosmic puzzle—if only he can piece them together in time to finally understand what it means to be part of something bigger than infinity. As darkly enchanting as the works of Neil Gaiman and as wisely hilarious as Kurt Vonnegut’s, Michael Poore’s Reincarnation Blues is the story of everything that makes life profound, beautiful, absurd, and heartbreaking.

Because it’s more than Milo and Suzie’s story. It’s your story, too.

Poisoned Pen Press author Sulari Gentill has departed from her historical mysteries set in the 1930s with her latest novel, Crossing the Lines. It’s available now through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2xyWyBx

Here’s the summary:

“As one for whom certain story lines and characters have become as real as life itself, Crossing the Lines was a pure delight, a swift yet psychologically complex read, cleverly conceived and brilliantly executed.” –Dean Koontz, New York Times Bestselling author

Sulari Gentill, author of the 1930s Rowland Sinclair Mysteries, jumps to the post-modern in Crossing the Lines.

A successful writer, Madeleine, creates a character, Edward, and begins to imagine his life. He, too, is an author. Edward is in love with a woman, Willow, who’s married to a man Edward loathes, and who loathes him, but he and Willow stay close friends. She’s an artist. As Madeleine develops the plot, Edward attends a gallery show where a scummy critic is flung down a flight of fire stairs…murdered. Madeleine, still stressed from her miscarriages and grieving her inability to have a child, grows more and more enamored of Edward, spending more and more time with him and the progress of the investigation and less with her physician husband, Hugh, who in turn may be developing secrets of his own.

As Madeline engages more with Edward, he begins to engage back. A crisis comes when Madeleine chooses the killer in Edward’s story and Hugh begins to question her immersion in her novel. Yet Crossing the Lines is not about collecting clues and solving crimes. Rather it’s about the process of creation, a gradual undermining of the authority of the author as the act of writing spirals away and merges with the story being told, a self-referring narrative crossing over boundaries leaving in question who to trust, and who and what is true.

For fans of Paul Auster, Jesse Kellerman, Vera Caspary’s Laura, Martin Amis, Haruki Murakami, Marisha Pessl

*****

Intrigued? Now you may want to watch the teaser video on Book Chat.  https://youtu.be/TGbz86gQc1w

Augustus Rose’s debut novel, The Readymade Thief, is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2vwh9oB

Here’s the summary:

“A kickass debut from start to finish.” —Colson Whitehead, author of The Underground Railroad

Betrayed by her family after taking the fall for a friend, Lee finds refuge in a cooperative of runaways holed up in an abandoned building they call the Crystal Castle. But the façade of the Castle conceals a far more sinister agenda, one hatched by a society of fanatical men set on decoding a series of powerful secrets hidden in plain sight. And they believe Lee holds the key to it all.

Aided by Tomi, a young hacker and artist with whom she has struck a wary alliance, Lee escapes into the unmapped corners of the city—empty aquariums, deserted motels, patrolled museums, and even the homes of vacationing families. But the deeper she goes underground, the more tightly she finds herself bound in the strange web she’s trying to elude. Desperate and out of options, Lee steps from the shadows to face who is after her—and why.

A novel of puzzles, conspiracies, secret societies, urban exploration, art history, and a singular, indomitable heroine, The Readymade Thief heralds the arrival of a spellbinding and original new talent in fiction.

*****

Jessica Stauffer recently interviewed Augustus Rose in an article called “An Indies Introduce Q&A with Augustus Rose” for American Booksellers Association. You can read the interview here. https://bit.ly/2wuM1um