PoisonedBlogger

Jayne Ann Krentz Discusses Sleep No More

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Jayne Ann Krentz kicks off her Lost Night Files trilogy with Sleep No More. Signed copies of this Hot Book of the Week are available in the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/55kpwpae Krentz recently talked about Sleep No More with Barbara Peters and John Charles from The Poisoned Pen.

Here’s the description of Sleep No More.

New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz returns with the first novel of the Lost Night Files, an exciting new romantic suspense trilogy about a night that changed three women forever—but that none of them can remember. 

Seven months ago, Pallas Llewellyn, Talia March, and Amelia Rivers were strangers, until their fateful stay at the Lucent Springs Hotel. An earthquake and a fire partially destroyed the hotel, but the women have no memory of their time there. Now close friends, the three women co-host a podcast called the Lost Night Files, where they investigate cold cases and hope to connect with others who may have had a similar experience to theirs—an experience that has somehow enhanced the psychic abilities already present in each woman.
 
After receiving a tip for their podcast, Pallas travels to the small college town of Carnelian, California, to explore an abandoned asylum. Shaken by the dark energy she feels in the building, she is rushing out when she’s stopped by a dark figure—who turns out to be the women’s mysterious tipster.
 
Ambrose Drake is certain he’s a witness to a murder, but without a body, everyone thinks he’s having delusions caused by extreme sleep deprivation. But Ambrose is positive something terrible happened at the Carnelian Sleep Institute the night he was there. Unable to find proof on his own, he approaches Pallas for help, only for her to realize that Ambrose, too, has a lost night that he can’t remember—one that may be connected to Pallas. Pallas and Ambrose conduct their investigation using the podcast as a cover, and while the townsfolk are eager to share what they know, it turns out there are others who are not so happy about their questions—and someone is willing to kill to keep the truth from coming out.

Jayne Ann Krentz is the author of more than fifty New York Times bestsellers. She has written contemporary romantic suspense novels under that name, as well as futuristic and historical romance novels under the pseudonyms Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick, respectively. There are more than 35 million copies of her books in print. She lives in Seattle.

Enjoy the discussion with Jayne Ann Krentz.

Carole Johnstone’s Outer Hebrides

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I wish I had this article the other day when I shared Carole Johnstone’s discussion with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen. But, Johnstone’s article, “A Thin Place: Carole Johnstone on Moving to Scotland’s Outer Hebrides”, appeared at CrimeReads a day too late. If you click on the CrimeReads link, it will take you to her post.

Then, you’ll be even more interested in picking up a copy of her thrillers in the Web Store. Mirrorland and The Blackhouse, the two books she discusses, are both available through the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/3wk9enz2

Carole Johnstone & The Blackhouse

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Scottish author Carole Johnstone recently did a virtual event with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen. Johnstone’s latest thriller, The Blackhouse, is available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/item/rPCoGQ_-yAUJCuWlAis4fg

Here’s the description of The Blackhouse.

From the author of the “dark and devious…beautifully written” (Stephen King) Mirrorland comes a richly atmospheric thriller set on an isolated Scottish island where nothing is as it seems and shocking twists lie around every corner.

A remote village. A deadly secret. An outsider who knows the truth.

Robert Reid moved his family to Scotland’s Outer Hebrides in the 1990s, driven by hope, craving safety and community, and hiding a terrible secret. But despite his best efforts to fit in, Robert is always seen as an outsider. And as the legendary and violent Hebridean storms rage around him, he begins to unravel, believing his fate on the remote island of Kilmeray cannot be escaped.

For her entire life, Maggie MacKay has sensed something was wrong with her. When Maggie was five years old, she announced that a man on Kilmeray—a place she’d never visited—had been murdered. Her unfounded claim drew media attention and turned the locals against each other, creating rifts that never mended.

Nearly twenty years later, Maggie is determined to find out what really happened, and what the islanders are hiding. But when she begins to receive ominous threats, Maggie is forced to consider how much she is willing to risk to discover the horrifying truth.

Unnerving, enthralling, and filled with gothic suspense, The Blackhouse is a spectacularly sinister tale readers won’t soon forget.

Carole Johnstone’s award-winning short fiction has appeared in annual “Best of” anthologies in the United States and United Kingdom. She lives with her husband in an old farmhouse outside Glasgow, Scotland, though her heart belongs to the sea and the wild islands of the Hebrides. She is the author of Mirrorland and The Blackhouse.

Enjoy the conversation with author Carole Johnstone.

Sleep No More – The Hot Book of the Week

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Jayne Ann Krentz’ Sleep No More is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. Krentz is guest author for a virtual event on Thursday, January 5 at 6 PM on YouTube and Facebook. Signed copies of Sleep No More are available through the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/55kpwpae

Here is the summary of Sleep No More.

New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz returns with the first novel of the Lost Night Files, an exciting new romantic suspense trilogy about a night that changed three women forever—but that none of them can remember. 

Seven months ago, Pallas Llewellyn, Talia March, and Amelia Rivers were strangers, until their fateful stay at the Lucent Springs Hotel. An earthquake and a fire partially destroyed the hotel, but the women have no memory of their time there. Now close friends, the three women co-host a podcast called the Lost Night Files, where they investigate cold cases and hope to connect with others who may have had a similar experience to theirs—an experience that has somehow enhanced the psychic abilities already present in each woman.
 
After receiving a tip for their podcast, Pallas travels to the small college town of Carnelian, California, to explore an abandoned asylum. Shaken by the dark energy she feels in the building, she is rushing out when she’s stopped by a dark figure—who turns out to be the women’s mysterious tipster.
 
Ambrose Drake is certain he’s a witness to a murder, but without a body, everyone thinks he’s having delusions caused by extreme sleep deprivation. But Ambrose is positive something terrible happened at the Carnelian Sleep Institute the night he was there. Unable to find proof on his own, he approaches Pallas for help, only for her to realize that Ambrose, too, has a lost night that he can’t remember—one that may be connected to Pallas. Pallas and Ambrose conduct their investigation using the podcast as a cover, and while the townsfolk are eager to share what they know, it turns out there are others who are not so happy about their questions—and someone is willing to kill to keep the truth from coming out.

Jayne Ann Krentz is the author of more than fifty New York Times bestsellers. She has written contemporary romantic suspense novels under that name, as well as futuristic and historical romance novels under the pseudonyms Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick, respectively. There are more than 35 million copies of her books in print. She lives in Seattle.

Amanda Flower’s Pandemic Reading

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Let’s end 2022 on a positive note with Amanda Flower’s list of her pandemic reading.

Amanda Flower is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author of over forty-five mystery novels. Her novels have received starred reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Romantic Times, and she had been featured in USA Today, First for Women, and Woman’s World. She currently writes for Penguin-Random House (Berkley), Kensington, and Sourcebooks. In addition to being a writer, she was a librarian for fifteen years. Today, Flower and her husband own a farm and recording studio, and they live in Northeast Ohio with their six adorable cats.

I’ve only met Amanda once, but I know how humble she is. She included one of her books in the list because I asked the authors to do that. But, it’s an older title, and I’m going to mention several of her books after she gets a chance to discuss her pandemic reading.

Don’t forget to check the Web Store for Flower’s book suggestions. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Most of the books I read during the pandemic were research for upcoming books that I was writing, but I also snuck in a few cozies and fun reads. Here are my top four.

1) Maid as Muse: How Servants Changed Emily Dickinson’s Life and Language by Aife Murray

This is a history of the servants in Emily Dickinson’s house. It was invaluable to me in writing Because I Could Not Stop for Death, the first novel in the Emily Dickinson Mysteries because the novel is narrated by a maid in the Dickinson home. I went back to it again and again writing the second novel in the series, I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died.

2) Death by Dumpling: A Noodle Shop Mystery by Vivien Chien

This was such a fun cozy debut, and I went on to read several more in the series during the pandemic. My favorite part was it was set in Cleveland, not too far from where I live.

3) Ralph Waldo Emerson: The Infinitude of the Private Man by Maurice York and Rick Spaulding

Another book I read for research for the Emily Dickinson Mysteries. The Dickinsons were friends of Emerson. I love it when my real life literary heroes intertwine.

4) Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World by Max Lucado

This book by Max Lucado I actually read twice during the pandemic to help me deal with the anxiety of everything. It was a great help. I highly recommend.

Marshmallow Malice: An Amish Candy Shop Mystery

It’s one of my own books, but it came out the spring of 2020 and is just a humorous cozy in Amish country and one of my bestselling books because people needed escape at that time. I was happy to provide.

And, I’m happy to provide information about two of Amanda Flower’s recent releases. She mentioned her September release, Because I Could Not Stop for Death, the first of her Emily Dickinson Mysteries.

Emily Dickinson and her housemaid, Willa Noble, realize there is nothing poetic about murder in this first book in an all-new series from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author Amanda Flower.

January 1855 Willa Noble knew it was bad luck when it was pouring rain on the day of her ever-important job interview at the Dickinson home in Amherst, Massachusetts. When she arrived late, disheveled with her skirts sodden and filthy, she’d lost all hope of being hired for the position. As the housekeeper politely told her they’d be in touch, Willa started toward the door of the stately home only to be called back by the soft but strong voice of Emily Dickinson. What begins as tenuous employment turns to friendship as the reclusive poet takes Willa under her wing. 

Tragedy soon strikes and Willa’s beloved brother, Henry, is killed in a tragic accident at the town stables. With no other family and nowhere else to turn, Willa tells Emily about her brother’s death and why she believes it was no accident. Willa is convinced it was murder. Henry had been very secretive of late, only hinting to Willa that he’d found a way to earn money to take care of them both. Viewing it first as a puzzle to piece together, Emily offers to help, only to realize that she and Willa are caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse that reveals corruption in Amherst that is generations deep. Some very high-powered people will stop at nothing to keep their profitable secrets even if that means forever silencing Willa and her new mistress….

Honeymoons Can Be Hazardous, the fourth Amish Matchmaker Mystery, was just released Dec. 27.

Set in the fan favorite Amish village of Harvest, Ohio, the latest novel in USA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower’s Amish Matchmaker series brings back the unlikely sleuthing duo of an Amish widow and her zany, thrice divorced best friend. Will appeal to fans of cozy mysteries, small-town mysteries, wholesome romance, inspirational fiction, and readers of Jennifer Beckstrand, Charlotte Hubbard, Rachel J. Good, and other authors of Amish fiction.

Widowed matchmaker Millie Fisher is anything but lonely between her mischievous goats, her quilting circle—and her habit of solving the odd murder or two . . .

Millie’s decidedly not Amish best friend, Lois Henry, is outspoken, colorful, and so hopelessly romantic, she’s had four husbands. Millie doesn’t judge, and she also doesn’t expect to run into Lois’s most recent ex, gambler Gerome Moorhead, in small-town Harvest, Ohio. With him is the very young, new Mrs. Moorhead, aka “Honeybee.” Lois is outraged, but Millie is completely shocked to learn the next day that Gerome is already a widower . . .

When a large wood carving at the cozy Munich Chalet falls on “Honeybee,” all eyes turn toward Lois. Who else would want a tourist—a complete stranger—dead? And half of Harvest witnessed Lois’s enmity toward the young woman. Suddenly Millie must put aside her sewing needle and flex her sleuthing skills. She’s no stranger to a murder investigation, after all, and if she doesn’t learn who killed Honeybee, Lois could go from Millie’s boisterous best friend to her horrified prison penpal . . .

Holiday Break

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Let’s face it. As the events end for 2022 at The Poisoned Pen, and most sites are posting “Best of” lists, I don’t have anything to post right now. So, as in other years, I’m going to take a short break. When I have new material, I’ll post it.

I wish you Happy Holidays, no matter what holiday you celebrate.

Stephen Spotswood’s Hot Book of the Week

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Stephen Spotswood’s Secrets Typed in Blood, the latest Pentecost and Parker mystery, is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/item/Tjsi1wmychM128ZnpaesfA

This wasn’t the Hot Book of the Week when Spotswood recently appeared here. Here’s the description of the book.

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR • In the newest entry into the Nero Award-winning Pentecost & Parker Mystery series, Lillian and Will are hot on the trail of a serial killer whose murders are stranger than fiction.

The Pentecost & Parker series “takes gritty 40s noir, shakes it up, gives it a charming twist, and serves it up with unforgettable style” (Deanna Raybourn, author of the Veronica Speedwell Mysteries). From the author of Fortune Favors the Dead and Murder Under Her Skin.

New York City, 1947: For years, Holly Quick has made a good living off of murder, filling up the pages of pulp detective magazines with gruesome tales of revenge. Now someone is bringing her stories to life and leaving a trail of blood-soaked bodies behind. With the threat of another murder looming, and reluctant to go to the police, Holly turns to the best crime-solving duo in or out of the pulps, Willowjean “Will” Parker and her boss, famed detective Lillian Pentecost. 

The pair are handed the seemingly-impossible task of investigating three murders at once without tipping off the cops or the press that the crimes are connected. A tall order made even more difficult by the fact that Will is already signed up to spend her daylight hours undercover as a guileless secretary in the hopes of digging up a lead on an old adversary, Dr. Olivia Waterhouse. 

But even if Will is stuck in pencil skirts and sensible shoes, she’s not about to let her boss have all the fun. Soon she’s diving into an underground world of people obsessed with murder and the men and women who commit them. Can the killer be found in the Black Museum Club, run by a philanthropist whose collection of grim murder memorabilia may not be enough to satisfy his lust for the homicidal? Or is it Holly Quick’s pair of editors, who read about murder all day, but clearly aren’t telling the full story?

With victims seemingly chosen at random and a murderer who thrives on spectacle, the case has the great Lillian Pentecost questioning her methods. But whatever she does, she’d better do it fast. Holly Quick has a secret, too and it’s about to bring death right to Pentecost and Parker’s doorstep.

You can watch the recent event from The Poisoned Pen.

Victoria Gilbert & Series Featuring Librarians

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As the year and The Poisoned Pen’s events wind down, I’ll add an occasional link to another article. Because Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, was a librarian, I’m a librarian, and several others on the bookstore staff were, today I’m turning to CrimeReads, and Victoria Gilbert’s recent article, “8 Great Mystery Series Featuring Librarians as Amateur Detectives”. You can find it here. https://tinyurl.com/274zezm3

Gilbert writes a series featuring a librarian, and, in July, she’ll launch a second one, the Hunter & Clewe series. Death in the Margins, her latest Blue Ridge Library Mystery, was just released. You can find Victoria Gilbert’s mysteries in the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/w548sw5e

Here’s Death in the Margins.

The theater is no place for murder—but a case of backstage betrayal drags library director Amy Webber into a case that could mean curtains in critically acclaimed author Victoria Gilbert’s Blue Ridge Library mystery.

It’s early summer, and while Richard Muir and his dance partner, Karla, are preparing their new choreographic piece, Richard’s wife, Amy, is gathering the dance’s source materials. Based on folktales and the music of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the production is set to premiere at an old cinema that has been converted to a theater. But when dancer Meredith Fox—Richard’s former fiancé—is found dead backstage, Amy is once again propelled into a murder case that threatens the careers and lives of those she loves.

After Amy teams up with Chief Deputy Brad Tucker and the sheriff’s department to discover the killer, they find that there’s no shortage of suspects: Meredith’s wealthy ex-husband, several fellow dancers, a romantically spurned accompanist, and others whom the talented but haughty dancer dismissed or betrayed over the years.

With Richard and Karla’s help, and information gleaned from locals who know a wealth of small-town secrets, Amy desperately tries to unveil the killer before the premiere. But she’s pursuing a ruthless murderer who’s willing to kill again—and who might just be waiting for Amy in the wings.

Victoria Gilbert, raised in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains, turned her early obsession with reading into a dual career as an author and librarian. Victoria has worked as a reference librarian, research librarian, and library director. When not writing or reading, she likes to spend her time watching films, gardening, or traveling. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and International Thriller Writers and lives in North Carolina.

Steven Hartov & The Last of the Seven

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Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Steven Hartov to talk about his historical novel of World War II, The Last of the Seven. You can order a signed copy of it through the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/4cbwdsu6

Here’s the summary of The Last of the Seven.

A spellbinding novel of World War II based on the little-known history of the X Troop—a team of European Jews who escaped the Continent only to join the British Army and return home to exact their revenge on Hitler’s military.

A lone soldier wearing a German uniform stumbles into a British military camp in the North African desert with an incredible story to tell. He is the only survivor of an undercover operation meant to infiltrate a Nazi base, trading on the soldiers’ perfect fluency in German. However, this man is not British-born but instead a German Jew seeking revenge for the deaths of his family back home in Berlin.

As the Allies advance into Europe, the young lieutenant is brought to recover in Sicily. There he is recruited by a British major to join the newly formed X Troop, a commando unit composed of German and Austrian Jews training for a top secret mission at a nearby camp in the Sicilian hills. They are all “lost boys,” driven not by patriotism but by vengeance.

Drawing on meticulous research into this unique group of soldiers, The Last of the Seven is a lyrical, propulsive historical novel perfect for readers of Mark Sullivan, Robert Harris and Alan Furst.

STEVEN HARTOV is the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller In the Company of Heroes, as well as The Night Stalkers and Afghanistan on the Bounce. For six years he served as Editor-in-Chief of Special Operations Report. He has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX, and most recently the History Channel’s Secret Armies. A former Merchant Marine sailor, Israeli Defense Forces paratrooper and special operator, he is currently a Task Force Commander in the New York Guard. He lives in New Jersey.

Hartov’s family background is fascinating. Check out the event.

Hot Book of the Week – A Christmas Deliverance

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Anne Perry’s A Christmas Deliverance is the current hot book of the week at The Poisoned Pen. Signed copies are available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/item/rbwr187WrivT6_7aiFjT7Q

Here’s the summary of A Christmas Deliverance.

A courageous doctor and his apprentice fight to save London’s poor—and discover that the hearts of men can be colder than a winter chill—in this gripping holiday mystery from New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry.

“Perry’s Victorian-era holiday mysteries [are] an annual treat.”—The Wall Street Journal

Scuff has come a long way from his time as a penniless orphan scraping together a living on the banks of the Thames. Now he’s studying medicine at a free clinic run by Dr. Crowe, a thoughtful if stoic mentor. But lately Crowe has been distracted, having witnessed an altercation between a wealthy former patient of his named Ellie—a woman that he not only treated but developed unacknowledged feelings for—and her controlling fiancé. It seems someone is forcing Ellie to marry the man. When Crowe’s emotions come flooding back, he sets out to uncover the troubling connection between Ellie, her father, and her betrothed.

With Crowe engrossed in his investigation just weeks before the holidays, Scuff is left to run the clinic on his own, treating London’s poor and vulnerable. In the holiday spirit,  he offers Mattie, a young girl in need, a warm place to stay as the winter chill sweeps through the city. Together, Scuff and Mattie must also fend off the police, who are growing suspicious of Crowe’s amateur sleuthing. Will Crowe be able to help Ellie, and will Scuff be able to ensure that he and Mattie—and all of their patients—have a safe and peaceful Christmas?