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You do know The Poisoned Pen is more than a mystery bookstore, don’t you? In fact, The Poisoned Pen is a general bookstore that hosts hundreds of authors a year.

Recently, epic fantasy authors Brian Staveley and Sam Sykes signed their newest books here.

The trilogy that began with The Emperor’s Blades and continued in The Providence of Fire reaches its epic conclusion with The Last Mortal Bond, the final volume in the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne series.

And, Sam Sykes discussed and signed Mortal Tally, the second in his Bring Down Heaven series.

So, don’t just think of us as a mystery bookstore. Think of us as the place to order and buy fantasy titles as well. We’re mystery, and more.

Like most of you, I wasn’t able to be there when Laurie R. King came to The Poisoned Pen to talk about her latest book, The Murder of Mary Russell.

But, we all still have the chance to share the experience, and this one is fascinating. Barbara Peters interviews author Laurie R. King, and, at the appropriate times, stops the interview twice to feature the clothing of the period in a fashion show. Watch the entire interview and see fashions from the Victorian era and the twenties at Livestream.

https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/5127403

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the fashions. First, Victorian.

Now, the models preparing for the ’20s portion of the show.

Once you’ve watched the Livestream event, and heard Laurie R. King discuss The Murder of Mary Russell, you might want to buy the book. Here’s your chance to purchase The Poisoned Pen’s book of the week.

https://tinyurl.com/jc9q4vo

Tessa Arlen recently joined us at The Poisoned Pen to discuss her latest mystery, Death Sits Down to Dinner.

She sat down with John Charles to answer questions and talk about the Edwardian period.

If you didn’t catch it earlier, Arlen also took time to answer questions in a a two-part interview for the blog when I put her in the hot seat. You can find the interview posted earlier.

https://poisonedpen.com/2016/03/28/tessa-arlen-in-the-hot-seat/

https://poisonedpen.com/2016/03/29/tessa-arlen-back-in-the-hot-seat/

And, if you’re now enticed to read it, don’t forget you can always order Death Sits Down to Dinner through the bookstore!

Stuart Woods was just at The Poisoned Pen to discuss his latest Stone Barrington novel, Family Jewels.

The audience turned out to hear the discussion between Woods and Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore.

It was the perfect occasion for Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, to break out her Baccarat necklace bought in France at its museum. She said it wasn’t the Klimt in the story, but it fit the evening.

If you’d like to feel as if you were there that evening, the event is available through Livestream.

https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/5146534

If you’d like a signed copy of Family Jewels, check out the bookstore’s site.

https://bit.ly/1VFcDxF

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spotted at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver at the Public Library Association Conference – The Poisoned Pen Press booth. Front row is Robert Rosenwald, Publisher and President of the Press, and distinguished visitor Jewell Parker Rhodes. Rhodes is the Virginia G. Piper Chair in Creative Writing and Artistic Director of Piper Global Engagement at Arizona State University. Raj Dayal, Senior Marketing Consultant for the Press is in the back.

Look closely, and you can see the covers for some of the Poisoned Pen Press’ books.

If you missed the Poisoned Pen event the other night, Barbara Peters’ discussion with authors Philip Kerr and John A. Connell, you can now catch it via Livestream. Check it out!

https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/5085828/videos/117591012

Steve Berry will be at The Poisoned Pen on Monday, April 11 at 7 PM. He’ll be discussing and signing The 14th Colony, the eleventh book in his best-selling Cotton Malone series.

To get you in the mood, we have a link to R.G. Belsky’s recent interview with Berry. It was published in The Big Thrill, the online publication of the International Thriller Writers.

https://bit.ly/1TzcDyV

Books about World War II and its aftermath are always popular, and the same is true about the authors who write about it. The Poisoned Pen recently hosted two authors who cover that territory, Philip Kerr, author of the Bernie Gunther books, and John A. Connell, who writes about Mason Collins. Here are just a few photos from the recent event.

(Left, Philip Kerr. Right, John A. Connell)

Here’s Kerr speaking about his book, The Other Side of Silence, as Connell, bookstore owner, Barbara Peters, and the audience listen.

Below is Peter Kerr, Barbara Peters, and John A. Connell.

If you backtrack on the blog a week or so, you’ll find an interview with John A. Connell, author of Spoils of Victory. The first part of the interview is dated March 23, followed the next day by the conclusion.

 https://poisonedpen.com/2016/03/23/john-a-connell-in-the-hot-seat/

You can still get an autographed copy of Philip Kerr’s The Other Side of Silence from The Poisoned Pen. https://bit.ly/1qlp6uC

Best of all, if you’re like me, jealous that you can’t be at The Poisoned Pen to see and hear the authors, you can get comfortable at home and watch the event via Lifestream.

https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/5085828

To celebrate Laurie R. King’s appearance at The Poisoned Pen on Saturday, April 9 at 1 PM, we have a treat. We don’t want everyone to mourn before they’ve read the book, knowing the title of King’s new mystery is The Murder of Mary Russell.

So, the bookstore is hosting a Victorian Tea Party with a fashion show where models will display some Victorian and 1920s clothing. Here’s a sample.

And, here’s Barbara Peters, Poisoned Pen Bookstore owner, in her hat for the Tea Party.

Do you have a gorgeous hat to wear on Saturday? Even if you don’t, it’s sure to be a fun event, so join us on Saturday, April 9th at 1 PM!

 

Anne Perry is on her book tour for the thirty-first book in the Thomas & Charlotte Pitt series, so it’s the perfect time to put her in the hot seat and ask some questions. Treachery at Lancaster Gate is the new book.

Treachery at Lancaster Gate is the latest Thomas & Charlotte Pitt mystery. How have the two characters changed over the course of the series?

It is about 19 years in their lives.  Pitt has gone from being a police officer to being in Special Branch (which is not police) then to being head of Special  Branch.  He has more confidence socially, but now has to make much more profound decisions, moral and political, and exercise a great deal of power, alone.  He cannot share them with Charlotte, many of them are state secrets.  Very difficult,  grey decisions, and that is not his nature.   Charlotte has to live with this, and yet still support him emotionally.   And she has much of the responsibility of parenthood.  She is also facing, for a woman, what is regarded as middle age, or at the very least, maturity.

We’re just about at the turn of the century in the books. What is Thomas facing as a police officer?      

He is actually not a police officer.  Special Branch is part of the secret service, a type of anti-terrorist squad.   But I described some of the changes he faces above.

What are your favorite research tools dealing with Victorian England?  

 I love the actual political history, but for fun, little bits of info like how to care for kid gloves, how to store pearls, little odd bits like that. Laundry secrets.

Your website says you began writing mysteries about Victorian England based on a suggestion as to who Jack the Ripper might have been. Do you have a favorite suspect?   

 I still like the idea of the Queen’s surgeon and the secret marriage of Prince Eddie ( son of the Prince of Wales) which would rule him out of the succession, since she was Catholic.   Long history, going back to the Reformation, and burning of Protestants by Queen Mary, etc).   Sovereign’s first loyalty must be to England NOT to Rome, and so on; a lot of details hang together.

Can you give us a hint as to the books you’re working on now?   

Am now working on the Monk after next.  Hope to finish the first draft by the end of the month, or come very close.   Planning a new series set in the 1930’s.    Very excited about that.   And of course another Christmas novella.

If friends come to visit, where’s your favorite place to take them?    

Haven’t had any friends to visit from very far away.   And I don’t have a car here!    But I have a favourite place to eat locally, in walking distance.   WeHo Bistro, parking space (for them). Good food and excellent service,  eat inside or out.

What’s the most beautiful place you’ve ever visited?  

Ever?   I thought that is impossible to say, but it isn’t, out of the hundreds that are all unique and exquisite, the island of Capri, when the jasmine is in bloom.  Or the Amalfi Coast.   But dozens and dozens of places.   An English Bluebell wood in bloom when the flowers are so thick it looks as if the sky has touched the ground.   Thousands of places!

If you weren’t writing about Victorian England, what place and period of time would you like to write about?

I plan to write in the 1930s. Europe and U.S.  I have already written five books on World War One, mostly in Flanders.   And on the French Revolution, in Paris, and on Byzantium, in Constantinople, Jerusalem, Venice, Rome and Florence.  But I also would like to write about Spain, specifically Zaragoza in 1485.

What were the last books you recommended?  

The Proud Tower by Barbara Tuchman and The Dark Valley by Piers Brendan, Alpha Beta by John Man.

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Interested in a signed copy of Treachery at Lancaster Gate now that you’ve read the interview? Check out The Poisoned Pen’s website.

https://bit.ly/22ZskFy