Jim Shockey’s debut novel is Call Me Hunter. Jack Carr was recently guest host at The Poisoned Pen to discuss the book with the author. Signed copies of Shockey’s Call Me Hunter are available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3QDjxqG
Here’s the description of Call Me Hunter.
“Astoundingly original, relentlessly paced, and purely authentic.” —Jack Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author
An elite secret society of killers has controlled the world’s treasures for hundreds of years…until one member tears himself free to salvage his soul and protect his daughter’s life in this electrifying and thrilling debut.
The single greatest work of art in the world is not in the Louvre or The Met, or in any private collection. In fact, its whereabouts are unknown.
Once in a long while, a child is born possessing the rarest of gifts, the innate ability to feel impossible beauty, to recognize priceless works of art. When such a child is discovered, a 250-year-old secret organization called Our World trains them to acquire the greatest works of art through theft, bribery, forgery, and even murder. Once found, the masterpiece will disappear again without anyone ever knowing it surfaced and sold for billions of dollars of profit at a secret auction attended by only the wealthiest of the art world’s patrons.
One of Our World’s rare geniuses is Zhivago. He is also a psychopathic killer. On his trail is Hunter, a man who will stop at nothing to destroy the organization and save his daughter from suffering the same fate her mother did at its hands.
Jim Shockey is a Canadian writer, worldwide adventurer, wilderness outfitter, television producer, and host. He is an expert in folk and tribal art and founded the Hand of Man Museum in British Columbia. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @JimShockey_. Find out more at JimShockey.com.
Enjoy the conversation with Jim Shockey and Jack Carr.
One Last Kill is the tenth Tracy Crosswhite mystery. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Robert Dugoni back to the bookstore so he could talk about that book, and others in the series. Signed copies of One Last Kill are available in the Webstore. https://tinyurl.com/59emekku
Here’s the description of One Last Kill.
An Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling series.
Detective Tracy Crosswhite draws a long-dormant serial killer out of hiding in a nerve-shattering novel by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.
Tracy Crosswhite is reopening the investigation into Seattle’s Route 99 serial killer. After thirteen victims, he stopped hunting and the trail went cold, stirring public outrage. Now, nearly three decades after his first kill, Tracy is expected to finally bring closure to the victims’ families and redeem the Seattle PD’s reputation. Even if it means working with her nemesis, Captain Johnny Nolasco.
Lead detective of the original task force, Nolasco dares Tracy to do what he failed to: close the case. Forming an uneasy alliance, Tracy and Nolasco revisit old leads and pursue new evidence only to unearth high-level corruption and cover-ups as dangerous as the elusive killer himself. At the risk of being exposed, such deadly and powerful forces will go to extremes to stay in the shadows.
That’s just where Tracy and Nolasco are headed—to find the twisted truth behind a killer’s motives, his disappearance, and his chilling comeback.
Robert Dugoni is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon Charts bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite series, which has sold more than eight million books worldwide; the David Sloane series; the Charles Jenkins series; the stand-alone novels Her Deadly Game, The 7th Canon, Damage Control, The World Played Chess, and The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, for which he won an AudioFile Earphones Award for narration; and the nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary, a Washington Post best book of the year. He is the recipient of the Nancy Pearl Book Award for fiction and three-time winner of the Friends of Mystery Spotted Owl Award for best novel. He is a two-time finalist for the Thriller Awards and a finalist for the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, the Silver Falchion Award for Mystery, and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Awards. His books are sold in more than twenty-five countries and have been translated into more than two dozen languages. Visit his website at www.robertdugonibooks.com.
It’s been a while since David Baldacci’s last in person appearance, but Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed him back. The Edge, which will be released Nov. 14, is the latest 6:20 Man novel. You can order signed books through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/40jUsV0
Here’s the summary of The Edge.
The 6:20 Man is back, dropped by his handlers into a small coastal town in Maine to solve the murder of a CIA agent who knew America’s dirtiest secrets—can Travis Devine uncover the truth before his time runs out?
When CIA operative Jenny Silkwell is murdered in rural Maine, government officials have immediate concerns over national security. Her laptop and phone were full of state secrets that, in the wrong hands, endanger the lives of countless operatives. In need of someone who can solve the murder quickly and retrieve the missing information, the U.S. government knows just the chameleon they can call on.
Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine spent his time in the military preparing to take on any scenario, followed by his short-lived business career chasing shadows in the deepest halls of power, so his analytical mind makes him particularly well-suited for complex, high-stakes tasks. Taking down the world’s largest financial conspiracy proved his value, and in comparison, this case looks straightforward. Except small towns hold secrets and Devine finds himself an outsider again.
Devine must ingratiate himself with locals who have trusted each other their whole lives, and who distrust outsiders just as much. Dak, Jenny’s brother, who’s working to revitalize the town. Earl, the retired lobsterman who found Jenny’s body. And Alex, Jenny’s sister with a dark past of her own. As Devine gets to know the residents of Putnam, Maine, answers seem to appear and then transform into more questions. There’s a long history of secrets and those who will stop at nothing to keep them from being exposed. Leaving Devine with no idea who he can trust… and who wants him dead.
DAVID BALDACCI is a global #1 bestselling author, and one of the world’s favorite storytellers. His books are published in over forty-five languages and in more than eighty countries, with 150 million copies sold worldwide. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television. David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org.
Enjoy Barbara Peters’ conversation with David Baldacci.
Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, asked Lisa Unger the question that interested me. Christmas Presents, Unger’s latest book, is called a novella, although it’s 240 pages. You can watch the event to hear Unger’s answer. Peters stresses this is not a cozy Christmas story to make you feel all warm and fuzzy. You can order signed copies of Christmas Presents through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/46FCw9z
Here’s the description of Christmas Presents.
A SheReads, Criminal Element, CrimeReads, and Zibby Mag “Most Anticipated” Thriller
Instead of presents this Christmas, a true crime podcaster is opening up a cold case…
Madeline Martin has built a life for herself as the young owner of a thriving business, The Next Chapter Bookshop, despite her tragic childhood and now needing to care for her infirm father. When Harley Granger, a failed novelist turned true crime podcaster, drifts into her shop in the days before Christmas, he seems intent on digging up events that Madeline would much rather forget. She’s the only surviving victim of Evan Handy, the man who was convicted of murdering her best friend Steph, and is suspected in the disappearance of two sisters, also good friends of Madeline’s, who have been missing for nearly a decade. It’s an investigation that has obsessed her father Sheriff James Martin right up until his stroke took his faculties.
Harley Granger has a gift for seeing things that others miss. He wasn’t much of a novelist, but his work as a true crime author and podcaster has earned him fame and wealth—and some serious criticism for his various unethical practices. Still, visiting Little Valley to be closer to his dying father has caused him to look into a case that many people think is closed—and some want reopened. And he has a lot of questions about the night Stephanie Cramer was killed, Ainsley and Sam Wallace disappeared, and Madeline Martin was left for dead, bleeding out on a riverbank.
Since Evan Handy went to jail, three other young women have gone missing, most recently a young college dropout named Lolly. Five young women missing in the same area in a decade. Are they connected? Was Evan Handy innocent after all? Or was there some else there that night? Someone who is still satisfying his dark appetites?
As Christmas approaches and a blizzard bears down, Madeline and her childhood friend Badger return to a past they both hoped was dead—to find the missing Lolly and to answer questions that have haunted them both, discovering that the truth is more terrible and much closer to home than they think.
Coupling a picturesque, cozy setting with a deeply unsettling suspenseful plot, Christmas Presents is a chilling seasonal novella that can be enjoyed all year long.
Lisa Unger is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author. With books published in thirty-three languages and millions of copies sold worldwide, she is widely regarded as a master of suspense.
Here’s the video of Lisa Unger’s appearance for The Poisoned Pen.
I was about to post the recap of a recent event at The Poisoned Pen, but I saw the upcoming schedule of events, and it was too good not to share. How about a schedule that includes David Baldacci, Rhys Bowen, Janet Evanovich, and Michael Connelly, along with other terrific authors? Check out the schedule, and then you might want to preorder books through the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
It was time to celebrate holiday mysteries at The Poisoned Pen. Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, welcomed authors Paula Munier and Spencer Quinn. Quinn’s Up on the Woof Top, the latest Chet and Bernie mystery, is a Christmas story. Paula Munier’s Home at Night is set at Halloween. There are signed copies of both books available in the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
Here’s the description of Up on the Woof Top.
Chet the dog, “the most lovable narrator in all of crime fiction” (Boston Globe) and his human partner Bernie Little find themselves high in the mountains this holiday season to help Dame Ariadne Carlisle, a renowned author of bestselling Christmas mysteries, find Rudy, her lead reindeer and good luck charm, who has gone missing.
At Kringle Ranch, Dame Ariadne’s expansive mountain spread, Chet discovers that he is not fond of reindeer. But the case turns out to be about much more than reindeer after Dame Ariadne’s personal assistant takes a long fall into Devil’s Purse, a deep mountain gorge. When our duo discovers that someone very close to Dame Ariadne was murdered in that same spot decades earlier, they start looking into that long ago unsolved crime.
But as they reach into the past, the past is also reaching out for them. Can they unlock the secrets of Dame Ariadne’s life before they too end up at the bottom of the gorge? Is Rudy somehow the key?
Up on the Woof Top is a brand-new holiday adventure in Spencer Quinn’s delightful New York Times and USA Today bestselling series that the Los Angeles Times called “nothing short of masterful.”
Spencer Quinn is the pen name for Peter Abrahams, the Edgar-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Chet and Bernie mystery series, as well as the #1 New York Times bestselling Bowser and Birdie series for middle-grade readers. He lives on Cape Cod with his wife Diana and with his dogs Pearl and Dottie.
Here’s the summary of Paula Munier’s Home at Night.
Beware the blackbirds…
It’s Halloween in Vermont, winter is coming, and five humans, two dogs, and a cat are a crowd in Mercy Carr’s small cabin. She needs more room—and she knows just the place: Grackle Tree Farm, with thirty acres of woods and wetlands and a Victorian manor to die for. They say it’s haunted by the ghosts of missing children and lost poets and a murderer or two, but Mercy loves it anyway. Even when Elvis finds a dead body in the library.
There’s something about Grackle Tree Farm that people are willing to kill for—and Mercy needs to figure out what before they move in. A coded letter found on the victim points to a hidden treasure that may be worth a fortune—if it’s real. She and Captain Thrasher conduct a search of the old place—and end up at the wrong end of a Glock. A masked man shoots Thrasher, and she and Elvis must take him down before he murders them all. Under fire, she and Elvis manage to run the guy off, but not before they are wounded, leaving Thrasher fighting for his life in the hospital, Mercy on crutches, and Elvis on the mend.
Now it’s up to Mercy and Troy and the dogs to track down the masked murderer in a county overflowing with leaf peepers, Halloween revelers, and treasure hunters and bring him to justice before he strikes again and the treasure is lost forever, along with the good name of Grackle Tree Farm….
PAULA MUNIER is the USA TODAY bestselling author of the Mercy Carr mysteries. A Borrowing of Bones, the first in the series, was nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award and named the Dogwise Book of the Year. Blind Search also won a Dogwise Award. The Hiding Place and The Wedding Plot both appeared on several “Best Of” lists. HOME AT NIGHT, the fifth book in the series, was inspired by her volunteer work as a Natural Resources Steward of New Hampshire. Along with her love of nature, Paula credits the hero dogs of Mission K9 Rescue, her own rescue dogs, and a deep affection for New England as her series’ major influences. A literary agent by day, she’s also written three popular books on writing: Plot Perfect, The Writer’s Guide to Beginnings, and Writing with Quiet Hands, as well as Happier Every Day and the memoir Fixing Freddie: The True Story of a Boy, a Mom, and a Very, Very Bad Beagle. She lives in New England with her family and Bear the Newfoundland-retriever rescue, Bliss the Great Pyrenees-Australian cattle dog rescue, pandemic puppy Blondie, a Malinois rescue (much like Elvis in her books), and Ursula The Cat, a rescue torbie tabby who does not think much of the dogs. For more, check out www.paulamunier.com.
Andrew Child recently appeared at The Poisoned Pen to talk about the 28th Jack Reacher thriller, The Secret. Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, said this is the last Reacher that Lee Child will write with his brother. Andrew Child has a contract to write the next four books. There are signed copies of The Secret available through the Webstore. https://tinyurl.com/ye3ycc96
Here’s the summary of The Secret.
The gripping new Jack Reacher thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling authors Lee Child and Andrew Child
A string of mysterious deaths. A long-classified mission. A young MP with nothing to lose.
1992. All across the United States respectable, upstanding citizens are showing up dead. These deaths could be accidents, and they don’t appear to be connected—until a fatal fall from a high-floor window attracts some unexpected attention.
That attention comes from the secretary of defense. All of a sudden he wants an interagency task force to investigate. And he wants Jack Reacher as the army’s representative. If Reacher gets a result, great. If not, he’s a convenient fall guy.
But office politics isn’t Reacher’s thing. Three questions quickly emerge: Who’s with him, who’s against him, and will the justice he dispenses be the official kind . . . or his own kind?
Lee Child is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Jack Reacher series and the complete Jack Reacher story collection, No Middle Name. Foreign rights in the Reacher series have sold in one hundred territories. A native of England and a former television director, Lee Child lives in New York City and Wyoming.
Andrew Child, who also writes as Andrew Grant, is the author of RUN, False Positive, False Friend, False Witness, Invisible, and Too Close to Home. He is the #1 bestselling co-author of the Jack Reacher novels The Sentinel, Better Off Dead, and No Plan B. Child and his wife, the novelist Tasha Alexander, live on a wildlife preserve in Wyoming.
Enjoy the conversation as Andrew Child talks about family, and Jack Reacher.
The Poisoned Pen recently hosted Historicon, an event with multiple authors who write about various historical periods. Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, introduce brother and sister,Boyd & Beth Morrison, Tasha Alexander and Stephanie Barron. You can order signed copies of their books through the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
Boyd and Beth Morrison’s latest book is The Last True Templar. Here’s the summary.
The thrilling new historical adventure from New York Times bestselling author Boyd Morrison and expert medievalist Beth Morrison. Fox and Willa find themselves on a dangerous quest for the treasure of the Templar Knights.A Perilous Quest. A Deadly Legacy.
Italy, 1351. English knight Gerard Fox and the resourceful Willa have come through a death-defying journey across war-torn Europe. Now looking towards their future together, they must first find a way to reconcile with their difficult pasts.
In a small village between Florence and Siena, Fox and Willa are caught up in a deadly ambush. After rescuing the enigmatic woman who is the target of the attack, they take refuge in her opulent villa and learn her heartbreaking story – a tale of loss, deception… and a burning desire for freedom.
Soon, Fox and Willa are involved in a perilous quest to save her family’s legacy… and to do so, they will have to solve a mystery that points the way to the fabled lost treasure of the Knights Templar.
Reviewers on the TALES OF THE LAWLESS LAND series:
‘The brother/sister team of Boyd and Beth Morrison brings the Middle Ages to life in vivid detail. This thriller has it all!’ Graham Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author ‘A novel full of both authenticity and thrills… Readers are sure to clamor for more from this writing duo.’ Mark Greaney, #1 New York Times bestselling author ‘Historical fiction fans will eagerly await the couple’s further adventures.’ Publishers Weekly starred review ‘Combines the rich historical tapestry of Umberto Eco and the relentless pace and adventure of Clive Cussler into a brilliant new series.’ J.T. Ellison, New York Times bestselling author
Boyd Morrison is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twelve thrillers, including six with Clive Cussler. His first novel, The Ark, was an Indie Next Notable pick and was translated into over a dozen languages. He has a PhD in industrial engineering from Virginia Tech. He lives in Seattle.
Follow Boyd on: @BoydMorrison IG: @BoydMorrisonWriter www.facebook.com/BoydMorrisonWriter
Beth Morrison is Senior Curator of Manuscripts at the J. Paul Getty Museum. She has curated major exhibitions including ‘Imagining the Past in France, 1250-1500’, and ‘Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World’. She has a PhD in the History of Art from Cornell University. She lives in Los Angeles.
Follow Beth on: @BethMorrisonPhd IG: @BethMorrisonWriter www.facebook.com/BethMorrisonWriter
Here’s the summary of Tasha Alexander’s new book, A Cold Highland Wind.
In this new installment of Tasha Alexander’s acclaimed Lady Emily series set in the wild Scottish highlands, an ancient story of witchcraft may hold the key to solving a murder centuries later.
Clues may be found in the story of Lady MacAllister, wife of the Laird of Cairnfarn Castle, who in 1676 suddenly found herself widowed and thrown out of her home. Her sole companion was a Moorish slave girl who helped her secretly spirit her most prized possessions—a collection of strange books—out of the castle. When her neighbors, wary of a woman living on her own, found a poppet—a doll used to cast spells—and a daisy wheel in her isolated cottage, Lady MacAllister was accused of witchcraft, a crime punishable by death.
Hundreds of years later, Lady Emily searches for the link between Lady MacAllister’s harrowing witchcraft trial and the brutal death of Sinclair. She must follow a trail of hidden motives, an illicit affair, and a mysterious stranger to reveal the dark side of a seemingly idyllic Highland village.
TASHA ALEXANDER is the author of the New York Times bestselling Lady Emily mystery series. The daughter of two philosophy professors, she studied English literature and medieval history at the University of Notre Dame. She and her husband, novelist Andrew Grant, live on a ranch in southeastern Wyoming.
Stephanie Barron’s last Jane Austen book is Jane Austen and the Final Mystery.
The final volume of the critically acclaimed mystery series featuring Jane Austen as amateur sleuth
March 1817: As winter turns to spring, Jane Austen’s health is in slow decline, and threatens to cease progress on her latest manuscript. But when her nephew Edward brings chilling news of a death at his former school, Winchester College, not even her debilitating ailment can keep Jane from seeking out the truth. Arthur Prendergast, a senior pupil at the prestigious all-boys’ boarding school, has been found dead in a culvert near the schoolgrounds—and in the pocket of his drenched waistcoat is an incriminating note penned by the young William Heathcote, the son of Jane’s dear friend Elizabeth. Winchester College is a world unto itself, with its own language and rites of passage, cruel hazing and dangerous pranks. Can Jane clear William’s name before her illness gets the better of her?
Over the course of fourteen previous novels in the critically acclaimed Being a Jane Austen Mystery series, Stephanie Barron has won the hearts of thousands of fans—crime fiction aficionados and Janeites alike—with her tricky plotting and breathtaking evocation of Austen’s voice. Now, she brings Jane’s final season—and final murder investigation—to brilliant, poignant life in this unforgettable conclusion.
Stephanie Barron is a graduate of Princeton and Stanford Universities, where she studied history. A former intelligence analyst at the CIA, she is the author of thirty novels, including the critically acclaimed Merry Folger series, which she writes under the name Francine Mathews. She lives and works in Denver, Colorado. Visit her online at www.stephaniebarron.com.
If you’re a fan of historical novels, enjoy the Historicon event.
Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Danielle Valentine and Ashley Winstead to the bookstore. It was Valentine’s first visit to the bookstore, while Winstead has appeared for all of her books. Signed books by both authors are available in the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/ Valentine’s book is Delicate Condition, and Winstead’s is Midnight is the Darkest Hour.
Here’s the description of Delicate Condition.
Hush little baby, don’t say a word…
A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK!
As seen in People, Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, Shondaland, Goodreads, and more!
…Mama’s going to show you the horrors she’s endured.
Anna Alcott is desperate to have a family. But as she tries to balance her increasingly public life as an indie actress with a grueling IVF journey, she starts to suspect that someone is going to great lengths to make sure that never happens. Crucial medicines are lost. Appointments get swapped without her knowledge. Cryptic warnings have her jumping at shadows. And despite everything she’s gone through to make this pregnancy a reality, not even her husband is willing to believe that someone is playing twisted games with her.
Then her doctor tells her she’s had a miscarriage—except Anna’s convinced she’s still pregnant despite everything the grave-faced men around her claim. She can feel the baby moving inside her, can see the strain it’s taking on her weakening body. Vague warnings become direct threats as someone stalks her through the bleak ghost town of the snowy Hamptons. As her symptoms and sense of danger grow ever more horrifying, Anna can’t help but wonder what exactly she’s carrying inside of her…and why no one will listen when she says something is horribly, painfully wrong.
DELICATE CONDITION IS:
“A twisty, page-turner with unsettling details and crackling writing that’s also a timely critique of sexism in modern medicine.” —Andrea Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of We Were Never Here
“A spooky, devour-in-one-sitting story that’s guaranteed to have everyone talking.”—Leah Konen, author of You Should Have Told Me
“A frightening, propulsive read brimming with brutal truths about motherhood, autonomy, and the everyday horror of not being believed. This twisty horror thriller will have you guessing until the staggering end.” —Rachel Harrison, National Bestselling author of Cackle and Such Sharp teeth
“Beautifully written, unbearably tense, and deeply scary. A modern fairy tale that asks what we’d be willing to sacrifice for the thing we want most.” —Katie Gutierrez, National Bestselling author of More Than You’ll Ever Know
DANIELLE VALENTINE is a pseudonym for the young adult novelist Danielle Vega. Her work, which includes The Merciless series, has been optioned for film and television by Lionsgate and Warner Bros, and has been translated into dozens of languages worldwide. Danielle lives outside of New York city with her husband, daughter, and two ornery cats. Delicate Condition is her first adult novel.
Check out the summary of Ashley Winstead’s Midnight is the Darkest Hour.
From the critically acclaimed author of In My Dreams I Hold A Knife and The Last Housewife comes Midnight is the Darkest Hour, a gothic Southern thriller about a killer haunting a small Louisiana town, where two outcasts—the preacher’s daughter and the boy from the wrong side of the tracks—hold the key to uncovering the truth.
For fans of Verity and A Flicker in the Dark,Midnight is the Darkest Hour is a twisted tale of murder, obsessive love, and the beastly urges that lie dormant within us all…even the God-fearing folk of Bottom Springs, Louisiana. In her small hometown, librarian Ruth Cornier has always felt like an outsider, even as her beloved father rains fire-and-brimstone warnings from the pulpit at Holy Fire Baptist. Unfortunately for Ruth, the only things the townspeople fear more than the God and the Devil are the myths that haunt the area, like the story of the Low Man, a vampiric figure said to steal into sinners’ bedrooms and kill them on moonless nights. When a skull is found deep in the swamp next to mysterious carved symbols, Bottom Springs is thrown into uproar—and Ruth realizes only she and Everett, an old friend with a dark past, have the power to comb the town’s secret underbelly in search of true evil.
A dark and powerful novel like fans have come to expect from Ashley Winstead, Midnight is the Darkest Hour is an examination of the ways we’ve come to expect love, religion, and stories to save us, the lengths we have to go to in order to take back power, and the monstrous work of being a girl in this world.
“Where The Crawdads Sing meets Twilight meets Thelma and Louise in this brilliantly realized, totally original thriller. Absolutely sensational—I couldn’t put it down.” —Clare Mackintosh, New York Times bestselling author
Ashley Winstead is an academic turned novelist with a Ph.D. in contemporary American literature. She lives in Houston with her husband, two cats, and beloved wine fridge. You can find her at www.ashleywinstead.com.
Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Lev AC Rosen to the bookstore. Rosen’s Lavender House was a big hit last year. Now, he follows up with the same character, Evander “Andy” Mills with The Bell in the Fog. There are signed copies available in the Webstore. https://tinyurl.com/mvrnb68w
Here’s the summary of The Bell in the Fog.
The Bell in the Fog, a dazzling historical mystery by Lev AC Rosen, asks—once you have finally found a family, how far would you go to prove yourself to them?
San Francisco, 1952. Detective Evander “Andy” Mills has started a new life for himself as a private detective—but his business hasn’t exactly taken off. It turns out that word spreads fast when you have a bad reputation, and no one in the queer community trusts him enough to ask an ex-cop for help.
When James, an old flame from the war who had mysteriously disappeared, arrives in his offices above the Ruby, Andy wants to kick him out. But the job seems to be a simple case of blackmail, and Andy’s debts are piling up. He agrees to investigate, despite everything it stirs up.
The case will take him back to the shadowy, closeted world of the Navy, and then out into the gay bars of the city, where the past rises up to meet him, like the swell of the ocean under a warship. Missing people, violent strangers, and scandalous photos that could destroy lives are a whirlpool around him, and Andy better make sense of it all before someone pulls him under for good.
LEV AC ROSEN writes books for people of all ages, including the Anthony and Lambda Literary Award nominated Lavender House. His YA novel Camp was a best book of the year from Forbes, Elle, and The Today Show, among others, and is a Lambda finalist and ALA Rainbow List Top Ten. He lives in NYC with his husband and a very small cat. You can find him online at LevACRosen.com and @LevACRosen.
Enjoy the conversation, including the discussion of Agatha Christie, locked room mysteries, and country house mysteries.
