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I wish I could have been at The Poisoned Pen to welcome Kevin Hearne back to town. The author of The Iron Druid Chronicles has a new book, The Purloined Poodle, part of the  mystery series featuring Oberon, the Irish Wolfhound. If you’re a fan, you’ll like the photos of Kevin with an Irish Wolfhound, and signing a Celtic sword.

You really should watch the Livestream event to see Kevin’s reaction when he sees the Irish Wolfhound in the audience. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/6376537

Signed copies of The Purloined Poodle are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2d85xE8

Aurora Teagarden is back in Charlaine Harris’ latest mystery, All the Little Liars. And, Charlaine was just at The Poisoned Pen to talk about and sign her book.

We have photos of the program.

Would you like to view this fun event? You can watch it on Livestream. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/6463387

Of course you can order a signed copy of All the Little Liars through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2dKai5U

Do you know of author Jeffrey Siger? If not, why not? Seriously, he’s the author of eight intriguing mysteries set in Greece, featuring Chief Inspector Andreas  Kaldis. There’s so much I could say about these books, but I put Jeff in the hot seat, and I’ll let him answer some questions.

Jeffrey, would you introduce yourself to readers?

I’m honored to be here, Lesa, and I guess the simplest introduction is to say I’m a Barry and Lefty Awards nominated mystery-thriller writer (losing to the not too shabby likes of C.J. Box and Louise Penny, respectively ☺) living on the Greek Aegean island of Mykonos.  A former Wall Street lawyer and name partner in my own New York City law firm, a decade ago I gave it all up to write my tell-it-like-it-is Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis series. The New York Times has called the series, “thoughtful police procedurals set in picturesque but not untroubled Greek locales.”  I’m also honored to have served as Chair of Bouchercon’s National Board and as an Adjunct Professor of English at Washington & Jefferson College, teaching mystery writing.

Tell us about Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis.

 Andreas Kaldis is an Athenian born second-generation cop, a politically incorrect, honest observer of his times who endures and grows, despite all that life and the powerful throw at him and his beloved country. His life moves forward through the series, never static, always growing.  I like the way serious issues, political and otherwise, are expressed around him, and as my writing is meant to convey to non-Greeks what I see as issues confronting modern day Greece in a manner that touches upon its ancient roots, Andreas is the perfect character for that expression.

Without spoilers, tell us about Santorini Caesars.

When a young demonstrator is publicly assassinated in the heart of protest-charged Athens, the motive is murky and the array of suspects immense.  Kaldis’ investigation leads him and his team to beautiful Santorini—held in legend to be the site of the lost island of Atlantis—and a hush-hush gathering of the Caesars, a cadre of Greece’s top military leaders seeking to form their own response to the crises facing their country. Is it a coup d’état or something else?  The answer is by no means clear, but the case resonates with political dimensions, and as international intrigues evolve, the threat of another—far more dramatic—assassination looms ever more real.

So, too, does the realization that only Kaldis can stop it.  But at what price?  Greece’s government is in chaos, its goals and leadership suspect, and Kaldis is forever at odds with its methods.  Life is not the same, nor is it likely to return to better days any time soon. With a new child on the way, and their young son coming face-to-face with the harsh nature of the world around him, Kaldis and his wife wonder if carrying on the fight matters any more.  It is a time for testing character, commitment, and the common good—and for saving the nation from chaos.

Your books deal with very serious subjects but often have humor that stems from the relationships between Kaldis and others. How did you come up with his team?

Some day, I wish my characters would let me in on the secret of how they came to be. Friends tell me that my primary character, Andreas Kaldis, and I share the same sense of humor and the same way of addressing problems. I never intentionally set out to do that, but I think ultimately a writer cannot help but put part of himself into many of his characters.

By and large I have to say that my characters are the product of some alchemy lurking within my deep, dark mysterious soul just waiting to turn an unformed sense of beings I never knew into characters as unique as we are to each other. Yes, sometimes I consciously model a character on someone I know well (Tassos is an homage of sorts to a departed friend who inspired me to write the series), but mostly I assemble a new being from disparate physical and emotional elements stored in my individualized spare parts warehouse.  Bottom line: Writers are body snatchers.  

Now, tell us about your love affair with Greece. Do you have a favorite place there?

It began almost 35-years ago when a friend told me I would love Greece. She was right.  As for my favorite place there, when I first set foot on Mykonos I felt as if I’d returned home, and that very first day I made a life-long friend who proved to be the most loved man on the island. Through him and his family, I became part of the island’s community, the “American Mykoniate” to be precise.  Yes, Greece is the birthplace of the gods, the cradle of European civilization, the bridge between East and West, with Spartan courage, Athenian democracy, Olympic achievement, and Trojan intrigue all calling it home, but to me it is all about family.

Where do you take visitors?

That depends on what they have in mind, and on Mykonos sometimes I don’t dare ask. ☺  Having said that, I don’t think any visit to Mykonos—if not Greece—is complete without a visit to the ancient ruins on the nearby Holy Island of Delos, the birthplace of Apollo, god of light, and his twin sister, Artemis, goddess of the hunt.  At the very least, I prod visitors toward taking a stroll at sunset along a beach looking across the sea toward Delos.  There they can walk where the ancients once walked, watching the sun set into the sea as the ancients must have done, and undoubtedly wonder how akin the ancients’ thoughts at such moments might have been to their own.

What authors have inspired you?

I’m a great fan of Cormac McCarthy, Arthur Conan Doyle, John Steinbeck, August Wilson (really a playwright), Robert Frost (yes, the poet), all the mystery writing folk at Poisoned Pen Press, and my Murder is Everywhere blogmates.  

Tell us about the Murder is Everywhere blog.

Murder is Everywhere ( https://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/ )   came into existence out of Bouchercon 2009 when six renowned mystery writers from around the world, propelled by the late, great Leighton Gage, agreed to create a blog site dedicated to international mystery writing.  Every day MIE offers fresh, thoughtful eclectic posts about the venues where its contributors place their work.  In addition to Leighton (who wrote about Brazil), of the six original members (I was the seventh) Tim Hallinan (Thailand), Yrsa Sigurdardottir (Iceland), and Dan Waddell (United Kingdom) no longer write for MIE—though still part of our family—while Cara Black (France) and Michael Stanley (Michael Sears and Stan Trollip–Southern Africa) remain as stalwarts of the site, now joined by Leye Adenle (Nigeria/London), Annamaria Alfieri (East Africa and South America), Sujata Massey (India and Japan), Caro Ramsay (Scotland), Zoë Sharp (No Fixed Abode), Susan Spann (Japan), and moi (Greece).  

I like a quote from Neil Gaiman. “Trust your obsession.” Did you ever have an obsession that you had to turn into a story? What was it?

 I always wanted to write a story about Mykonos, its people, their rich cultural history and enormously colorful present, but I didn’t want to write about pelicans, flowers, or summer Greek tavernas.  I wanted to write about action and mystery.   I wanted to come up with a dynamite story that would allow me to make Mykonos a character in the book, one that would show all the things I loved about it. Something that would take the reader behind the scenes to see the Mykonos I knew, something tourists, even off-island Greeks never saw.  So, I decided to drop a serial killer into the midst of my island paradise. That’s how Murder in Mykonos, came to be as a “Mama Mia setting for a No Country For Old Men story.”  It also went on to be the #1 best selling English-language book in Greece, and make The New York Times’ radar list of hardcover best sellers.

What is on your TBR pile?

At the top of the pile is Sunshine Noir, a just published anthology of short stories from seventeen terrific southern climes authors (me too) edited by Annamaria Alfieri and Michael Stanley (with prefaces by Peter James and Tim Hallinan, and an introduction by Peter Rozovsky), that has our Nordic Noir brethren quaking in their frozen tundra boots.  I’m saving Tim Hallinan’s soon to be released Fields Where They Lay for Christmas, and have strategically positioned in the pile to get me there on time, Annamaria Alfieri’s just released Idol of Mombasa, Ingrid Thoft’s Brutality, Marc Cameron’s Field of Fire, Lou Berney’s The Long and Faraway Gone, and Lee Child’s not yet released Night School““all great books from great people.

Thank you, Jeff! If you would like to read more about Jeff, The Huffington Post did an interview as well. https://huff.to/2cCDVGT

Jeffrey will be appearing at The Poisoned Pen, along with Mark Pryor, author of The Paris Librarian, on Saturday, October 15 at 2 PM. Signed copies of Jeff’s books, including Santorini Caesars, are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2cWaFHu

Slate.com had a fun article, “Britain Releases Postage Stamps Embedded With Hidden Clues to Honor Agatha Christie.”   https://slate.me/2ctNYMV   It’s a must-read for anyone who appreciates hidden clues, Agatha Christie, or stamps. Below is just one of the stamps pictured in the article.

Has there been a break in the case of Jack the Ripper? Randy Williams, a private investigator, claims that Jack the Ripper was three men. Some Ripper experts are finding Williams’ information to be credible. A recent article in The Lineup tells the story. Check it out. https://bit.ly/2d2cww1

Did you see Laura Miller’s recent article in The New Yorker about Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series? https://bit.ly/2dwC8Vc

This is the second time in the last week, I linked to an article about her books. If you’re curious, you can find them in our Web Store. https://bit.ly/2dnnaPq

Did you know crime novelist Sara Paretsky (Dr. Paretsky) is also a historian? I had no idea until fellow writer Lori Rader-Day interviewed her for Chicago Review of Books. Paretsky combined an interest in history and social justice even then. Check out the interview. https://bit.ly/2dev0c6

And, you can order books from both Sara Paretsky and Lori Rader-Day through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

If you missed Tana French’s recent interview in the NY Times‘ “By the Book” you can catch it here. https://nyti.ms/2dcviBX You might be interested to read the list of her favorite crime fiction writers.

And, if French herself is one of your favorite crime fiction writers, you can order her new book, The Trespasser, and other titles, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2dnnaPq

Graham Moore is the author of The Sherlockian and The Last Days of Night.

Here, in Authorcuts, a short video used with permission from Penguin Random House, Moore discusses how he was prompted to write his first novel, The Sherlockian.  https://bit.ly/2d0kZSn

Copies of The Sherlockian, and signed copies of The Last Days of Night are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2d7mlIz

Welcome back! Ann Parker, author of What Gold Buys, recently sat In the Hot Seat for questions. Today is the second half of that interview.

What are you working on now?

Right now, I’m working on this Q&A! 😉

Okay, I know that’s not what you mean…

I’m polishing up a couple of short stories to submit for consideration to a couple of anthologies. I’m pulling together what I need to take a deep breath and plunge into Book #6 (titles always come last for me, so it’s simply “Book #6″ for now). I see What Gold Buys as closing a cycle that started with Silver Lies, the first book of the series. The series will continue, but this next one will be taking Inez (and me) into some uncharted territory…

Yes, I’m being intentionally vague about this next in the Silver Rush “saga” for now!

So, our other questions will be off topic. It’s that dinner party question first. If you could invite an author and their hero or villain to dinner, who would you invite, and why?

Well, I’m a big fan of the George Smiley novels of John le Carré (aka David John Moore Cornwell). I’d love to invite le Carre and Smiley to dinner. I’m not certain we’d get past the appetizers, though, as I’d want to quiz them endlessly about their time(s) in MI5 and MI6, and what it was like during the Cold War. Being the polite sorts they probably are, they would no doubt suddenly find they have important business elsewhere, offer their regrets, and the dinner party would come to an abrupt end. Oh well. More appetizers for me!

If friends come to visit, where do you like to take them?

Some of my favorite spots to escape for a really good cup of coffee (keep in mind I live the outer suburbs of the San Francisco Bay Area… this isn’t Portland or Seattle!). Our nearby independent bookstore (Towne Center Books). The local “Vine Cinema and Alehouse” shows independent films, has comfy couches, and is a great place to fall into the magic of movies. If there’s more time, then a jaunt to Yosemite is nice… however, I’ll admit it’s been many years since I’ve been there myself. Maybe I need more out-of-town friends to come visit!

How would Inez Stannert describe you?

I think Inez would look a little askance at me, to be honest. At first, she would probably view me suspiciously, perhaps dismissively, rather like how she views most of the “church women” she runs up against in Leadville. After all, let’s face it, I am a meek and mild suburban working mother and wife, leading a pretty staid life compared to her rather complicated and adventurous one gallivanting around on the edge of propriety. If we played a game of poker—or any kind of cards (I’m rather fond of twenty-one, but only if playing for M&Ms or toothpicks)—she’d quickly discover I am a very lousy player, being unable to keep a poker face to save my life (or my M&Ms).

However, should we have the chance to discuss literature—Milton’s Paradise Lost, for instance, or Shakespeare’s plays, W.B. Yeats, T.S. Eliot (well, a bit after her time at this point), who knows? We might find common points of interest. So, after all this let’s-get-to-know-each-other stuff, how would Inez describe me? Perhaps as “cautious, a bit of a mouse, and not a gambler, that is certain. But she examines the world and its inhabitants closely, not just with her eyes, but also with her ears and all her senses. She is kind and cares deeply… she has a heart and an inquiring mind, and uses them both.”

Other than author, what’s the most interesting job you ever had?

I love being a science writer. It allows me to ask nosey and “stupid” questions with impunity, I get to find out all about “bleeding edge” science and technology as it is being developed, and I get to meet scientists and researchers who are passionate about their work.

One of the most eye-opening jobs I had was working as a maid in a high-class summer resort. People pretty much acted as if maids were “invisible” people, and wow, the things they did and the conditions of some of those rooms… 

Final question. What’s been on your TBR pile recently?

If we’re talking fiction, Jar City by Arnaldur Indriðason was top of my pile for the Towne Center mystery book club, which I lead (kind of sort of), so I finished that in June. The summer pile for that club also includes Madam Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart and Absolute Power by David Baldacci. Non-book-club summer reading included The Preacher by Ted Thackery, Jr., The Badwater Gospel by R.W. Magill, and The Green Muse by Jessie Prichard Hunter. I’m partway through Maids of Misfortune by M. Louisa Locke and enjoying it immensely. Next up on my “casual reading” piles for perusal are Chorus of the Dead by Tracy L. Ward, The Black Gang by H.C. McNeile, A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn, and Hangtown Creek: A tale of the California Goldrush by John Putnam.

In a separate pile is lots of nonfiction I’m working through for the mysterious Book #6.

And of course, having mentioned le Carré, I now have a hankering to do a re-read of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. I think this is why the TBR piles never seem to diminish, no matter how much I read.

Thank you, Ann! Ann’s website is www.annparker.net. You can purchase an autographed copy of What Gold Buys, the latest Silver Rush mystery, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2djWpfe

(Leadville’s House with the Eye Museum was the home of Eugene Robitaille, who plays a small, but significant role in What Gold Buys.)