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Clare Mackintosh’s The Last Party is The Poisoned Pen’s British Crime Club Selection of the Month. It’s also the first in a new series. Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, recently welcomed Mackintosh for a virtual event and discussion of her new book. You can order copies of The Last Party through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3V5Tqbp

Here’s the description of The Last Party.

“Wicked fun, devilishly clever, with echoes of Agatha Christie.” —Patricia Cornwell, #1 New York Times bestselling author

At midnight, one of them is dead. By morning, all of them are suspects.

It’s the party to end all parties….but not everyone is here to celebrate.

On New Year’s Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests. His vacation homes on Mirror Lake are a success, and he’s generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbors.

But by midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake.

On New Year’s Day, Ffion Morgan has a village full of suspects. The tiny community is her home, so the suspects are her neighbors, friends and family—and Ffion has her own secrets to protect.

With a lie uncovered at every turn, soon the question isn’t who wanted Rhys dead…but who finally killed him.

In a village with this many secrets, murder is just the beginning.

“Brilliant, so atmospheric….I fell in love with the courageous, complicated detective Ffion Morgan and I think readers will too.” —Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author of The It Girl

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CLARE MACKINTOSH is the multi-award-winning author of four Sunday Times bestselling novels. Translated into forty languages, her books have sold more than two million copies worldwide, have been New York Times and international bestsellers, and have spent a combined total of 50 weeks on the Sunday Times bestseller chart. Her most recent novel is Hostage. Mackintosh lives in North Wales with her husband and their three children. She can be found at claremackintosh.com, facebook.com/ClareMackWrites, or on Twitter @ClareMackint0sh.

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Enjoy Clare Mackintosh’s conversation with Barbara Peters.

It’s always fascinating to listen to Dana Stabenow talk about Egyptian history and Cleopatra. She recently appeared at The Poisoned Pen to talk about her now book Theft of an Idol. There are signed copies of the book in the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/yt5nsapc

Here’s the summary of Theft of an Idol.

When Cleopatra’s most beloved actress disappears, her new Eye of Isis must solve a case that will lead to the darkest corners of Alexandria.

From the palaces of Alexandria reigns Cleopatra ““ seventh of her name, avatar of the goddess Isis, ruler of the Kingdom of Egypt ““ surrounded by riches untold. Through the streets of her great city bustle scholars and sailors, politicians and priests. For those with the means, it is a comfortable life.

But not all are invited to share in the wealth of Egypt’s first city. For the peasants and farmers, their lives lie in the hands of the gods and the harvest. Unless, that is, they can find other methods to feed their families. Other, less savory methods.

When Herminia, one of Alexandria’s most beloved actresses, disappears on the eve of a great performance, Cleopatra sets Tetisheri, her Eye, to investigate. In her search for the truth, Tetisheri will uncover a mystery that will take her to the city’s darkest corners…

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Dana Stabenow was born in Anchorage, Alaska and raised on a 75-foot fishing tender. She knew there was a warmer, drier job out there somewhere and found it in writing. Her first Kate Shugak book, A Cold Day for Murder, received an Edgar Award from the Crime Writers of America. She lives in Homer, Alaska. Find her online at stabenow.com.

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Enjoy the conversation with Dana Stabenow and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently hosted Ausma Zehanat Khan for a virtual event. Khan is the author of Blackwater Falls. Copies of Blackwater Falls is available in the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/2p98cau5

Here’s the summary of Blackwater Falls.

From critically acclaimed author Ausma Zehanat Khan, Blackwater Falls is the first in a timely and powerful crime series, introducing Detective Inaya Rahman.

“A gripping and compulsive mystery, but much more than that: an exploration of faith, prejudice and fear of the unknown.” —Ann Cleeves, New York Times bestselling author of the Vera, Shetland and Two Rivers series

Girls from immigrant communities have been disappearing for months in the Colorado town of Blackwater Falls, but the local sheriff is slow to act and the fates of the missing girls largely ignored. At last, the calls for justice become too loud to ignore when the body of a star student and refugee–the Syrian teenager Razan Elkader–is positioned deliberately in a mosque.

Detective Inaya Rahman and Lieutenant Waqas Seif of the Denver Police are recruited to solve Razan’s murder, and quickly uncover a link to other missing and murdered girls. But as Inaya gets closer to the truth, Seif finds ways to obstruct the investigation. Inaya may be drawn to him, but she is wary of his motives: he may be covering up the crimes of their boss, whose connections in Blackwater run deep.

Inaya turns to her female colleagues, attorney Areesha Adams and Detective Catalina Hernandez, for help in finding the truth. The three have bonded through their experiences as members of vulnerable groups and now they must work together to expose the conspiracy behind the murders before another girl disappears.

Delving deep into racial tensions, and police corruption and violence, Blackwater Falls examines a series of crimes within the context of contemporary American politics with compassion and searing insight.

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AUSMA ZEHANAT KHAN holds a Ph.D. in international human rights law with a specialization in military intervention and war crimes in the Balkans. She is the author of the award-winning Esa Khattak and Rachel Getty mystery series, which begins with The Unquiet Dead, as well as the critically acclaimed Khorasan Archives fantasy series. Her new crime series featuring Detective Inaya Rahman begins with Blackwater Falls. She is also a contributor to the anthologies Private Investigations, Sword Stone Table, and The Perfect Crime, and the former Editor-in-Chief of Muslim Girl magazine. A British-born Canadian and former adjunct law professor, Khan now lives in Colorado with her husband.

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Enjoy the conversation with Ausma Zehanat Khan and Barbara Peters.

Bonnie MacBird recently appeared for The Poisoned Pen to discuss her latest Sherlock Holmes adventure, What Child is This? Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, and guest host, Leslie S. Klinger, welcomed her for the event. You can find signed copies of the book in the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/y65fn2hp

Here’s the summary of What Child is This?

It’s the season of peace and goodwill, but a Victorian Christmas is no holiday for the world’s most popular detective in this new book from Bonnie MacBird, author of the bestselling Sherlock Holmes novel Art in the Blood.

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Bonnie MacBird is a produced screenwriter and playwright as well as an accomplished stage actor and writing teacher. She holds degrees from Stanford in music and film, and when she’s not writing Sherlock Holmes, moonlights as a theatre director and audiobook reader. She divides her time between Los Angeles and London. Visit her at www.macbird.com.

Enjoy the conversations with Leslie S. Klinger and Bonnie MacBird.

With the problems with paper and publishing right now, it’s closer to peril in publishing than Peril in Paris. You’ll hear a little about that if you listen to the recent event at The Poisoned Pen. Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, recently welcomed Rhys Bowen for a live event. Bowen, a favorite at the bookstore, is back with the latest Royal Spyness mystery. There are signed copies of Peril in Paris available in the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/2tnyvsu9

Here’s the description of Peril in Paris.

Lady Georgiana Rannoch and her dashing husband, Darcy, are awaiting a bundle of joy, but an unexpected trip to Paris will thrust them straight into a tangled web of international intrigue in this all-new mystery in the New York Times bestselling Royal Spyness series from Rhys Bowen.

What a delight it is to finally be able to enjoy a simple meal again! I have been in the throes of morning sickness for the last few months as Darcy and I prepare to welcome a brand-new addition to our little family. Now that I am feeling better, I have realized I am dreadfully bored! It seems that all my nearest and dearest are off leading their own busy lives while I sit at home and attempt to train our two adorably naughty puppies. Fun as it may be, it is hard not to long for a little adventure, a change of pace, before my true confinement begins when the baby comes.

Happily, it seems that Darcy has read my mind. When I receive a letter from my glamorous best friend, Belinda, Darcy suggests we take a trip to Paris to visit her. It seems he also has a spot of business of which to take care, so I will be staying in Belinda’s flat as she works feverishly on Coco Chanel’s fall collection. I happen to know Coco from a disastrous encounter in Nice years ago, and I am hoping this visit will go much more smoothly. But I soon learn that nothing about my time in Paris is going to be simple . . . or safe for that matter.

Darcy has asked me to take on a small chore as a part of his latest assignment. I am to covertly retrieve something from an attendee of Coco’s show. It seems easy enough, but I discover that this little errand could have terrifying consequences for a world on the brink of war. When things go horribly wrong, I am left to find a killer all while trying to fend off a French policeman who is certain that I am a criminal mastermind. But I have no plans to deliver my darling little one in a prison cell, and so I will muster every ounce of my courage to save the day . . . and, quite possibly, the world!

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Rhys Bowen, a New York Times bestselling author, has been nominated for every major award in mystery writing, including the Edgar®, and has won many, including both the Agatha and Anthony awards. She is also the author of the Molly Murphy Mysteries, set in turn-of-the-century New York, and the Constable Evans Mysteries, set in Wales, as well as two international bestselling stand-alone novels. She was born in England and now divides her time between Northern California and Arizona.

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Enjoy the conversation with Rhys Bowen.