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Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Taylor Moore, author of Firestorm. Despite his interesting background, he admits that writing is the hardest job he’s ever had. You can check out his success by picking up a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3QG7BBO

Here’s the summary of Firestorm, a sequel to Down Range.

DEA Special Agent Garrett Kohl must rescue a CIA officer when she’s kidnapped in Texas by a nefarious band of criminals in this pulse-pounding thriller for fans of C. J. Box.

Special Agent Garrett Kohl has just taken down a dangerous and deadly cartel boss when he finds trouble brewing back on his family’s homestead. A powerful energy consortium, Talon Corporation, has started an aggressive mining operation that threatens to destroy Garrett’s land, his family’s way of life, and everything they hold dear. To achieve its goals, Talon is flouting the law, bribing public officials, and meeting anyone who challenges it with physical violence. When the Kohls themselves are attacked by Talon guards, Garrett goes on the offensive, embarking on an investigation that he hopes will rid the Texas High Plains of the intruders once and for all.

Garrett soon discovers that the company has origins in the dark hinterlands of countries across the globe. Using coercion and assassination levied by men from former Russian special operations forces, Talon is working on a highly secretive scheme to commandeer precious U.S. resources. The tit for tat exchange between Talon and the Kohls erupts into a full-scale war when Russian spy, Alexi Orlov, kidnaps Garrett’s friend and ally, CIA operative Kim Manning. While Talon may be accustomed to getting its way in many places around the world, they have yet to encounter this rare breed of warrior down in Texas—a man who will fight to the death to protect those that he loves.  

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Taylor Moore is the author of Down Range, which was nominated for the Barry Award for Best First Novel, named a Strand Magazine Best Mystery of the year, and selected for the Texas Library Association’s Lariat Reading List. He is a sixth-generation Texan who grew up on a farm and ranch northwest of Houston and is a former CIA Intelligence Officer who worked in both analysis and operations and later consulted for the Department of Defense in Theater Security Cooperation, Force Protection, and Counternarcotics. He now lives in the Texas Panhandle with his wife and two children, where he is a full-time author, screenwriter, and speaker. This is Taylor’s second novel featuring Garrett Kohl.

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Moore is a fascinating speaker. Check out the video.

For the next month, you can almost pick any day to watch an author event from The Poisoned Pen. Fortunately, for those of us in the wrong time zone or still at work, within a day or two we can usually catch the event a second time on YouTube. And, you can certainly find the authors’ books in the Web Store. If you check early, you might even be able to grab a signed copy by your favorite author. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

In the meantime, check out this schedule, and mark the dates on your calendar.

Larry Beinhart is best known as the author of Wag the Dog (originally published as American Hero) on which the film starring Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Willie Nelson and Woody Harrelson was based. His No One Rides for Free (1986) received the 1987 Edgar Award for Best First Novel.  Beinhart spent two years in Oxford, England, where he was the Raymond Chandler Fulbright Fellow at Wadham College. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, and the Chicago Tribune. Beinhart worked for AlJazeera English, on the TV news magazine show Empire as a Writer/Producer/Director. He resides in Woodstock, New York.

Bookreporter https://Bookreporter.com, recently ran an interview with Beinhart, author of The Deal Goes Down. You can find the interview here. https://www.bookreporter.com/authors/larry-beinhart/news/interview-081122. You can also read a review of his book. https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/the-deal-goes-down And, if you’d like to read CrimeReads, and Beinhart’s article, “The Five Great Novels of Dashiell Hammett”, check it out. https://crimereads.com/the-five-great-novels-of-dashiell-hammett/

Here’s the description of The Deal Goes Down.

The Deal Goes Down

A legendary, Edgar-Award winning writer returns, and so does his legendary detective,  with a gripping thriller about marital discord, contract killing, off-piste skiing and the deep state…

Ex-private eye Tony Casella lives in the Catskill mountains, a lonely old tough guy whose body can no longer do what it once did.  His wife and son are dead; his daughter barely talks to him;  his bank is in the process of foreclosing on his home.

But a chance encounter with a rich young woman on a train changes everything. He is hired to take care of  her superrich, sexual predator husband. That job leads to others and he joins  a small start-up whose mission is to save women from abusive marriages. Provided their spouses are in the top 0.01%. It’s a luxury service destined to make great profits. 

Tony’s problems seem to be over, but are they? An old, angry associate is determined to get his cut of Tony’s earnings, murky government agents start to tail him, and when he is sent to the Austrian alps to kill a Russian oligarch and rescue his American wife, all hell breaks loose…

Packed with action The Deal Goes Down is an unforgettable portrait of a Lion in Winter who still has a few tricks up his sleeve, from a writer garlanded with awards and critical acclaim and whose novel American Hero was made into the classic film, Wag the Dog.

When Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, hosted Brian Freeman, they said Freeman’s latest book is his third Bourne book in Robert Ludlum’s series. You can find signed copies of Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Sacrifice, and Freeman’s other books, in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3C3hRzU

Here’s the description of Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Sacrifice.

Jason Bourne tackles a global media conspiracy in the latest electrifying entry in Robert Ludlum’s #1 New York Times bestselling series.

Jason Bourne has faced many killers before, but none as dangerous or as cruelly inventive as the assassin who calls himself Lennon. Bourne thought he had Lennon cornered in Iceland, only to have the killer escape in a fiery explosion. Now Lennon’s trail leads Bourne to New York and then to Washington ““ and the body count rises with each deadly encounter.

But who is Lennon working for? Bourne believes the assassin has a shadowy new employer called the Pyramid. The only clue to the group’s agenda is a young German woman murdered in Washington on her way to a covert meeting. But the woman’s entire identity turns out to be a lie, and news reports of her death have been strangely twisted and suppressed.

Finding the truth about this woman may be Bourne’s only chance to catch Lennon ““ and uncover the conspiracy behind the Pyramid. But the chase comes with high stakes. Bourne’s former
lover, journalist Abbey Laurent, is digging into the mystery too, and Jason’s perilous battle against Lennon and the Pyramid will soon put Abbey in the assassin’s crosshairs.

Bourne will need to use every bit of his tradecraft and his genius for mayhem to expose this web of lies and murder before Lennon kills the woman he loves.

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Brian Freeman is the bestselling author of more than twenty novels, including the Jonathan Stride and Frost Easton series. His Audible original, The Deep, Deep Snow, hit the New York Times audio bestseller list. His novels have won the International Thriller Writers Award and the Macavity Award and been finalists for the Gold Dagger, Edgar, Anthony, and Barry Awards.

Robert Ludlum was the author of twenty-seven novels, each one a New York Times bestseller. There are more than 225 million of his books in print, and they have been translated into thirty-two languages. He was the author of The Scarlatti Inheritance, The Chancellor Manuscript, and the Jason Bourne series–among other novels. Ludlum passed away in March 2001.

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Enjoy the conversation about the book, and also about writing another author’s hero.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently hosted Amanda Jayatissa, author of You’re Invited. There are connections between Sri Lanka and Los Angeles in both of her books, including this latest one. You can order copies of both books, You’re Invited and My Sweet Girl, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3C3gvoO

Here’s the description of You’re Invited.

What could be worse than your ex-boyfriend marrying your childhood best friend? Getting accused of her murder… From the award-winning author of My Sweet Girl comes a dangerously addictive new thriller about a lavish Sri Lankan wedding celebration that not everyone will survive.

When Amaya is invited to Kaavi’s over-the-top wedding in Sri Lanka, she is surprised and a little hurt to hear from her former best friend after so many years of radio silence. But when Amaya learns that the groom is her very own ex-boyfriend, she is consumed by a single thought: She must stop the wedding from happening, no matter the cost. But as the week of wedding celebrations begin and rumors about Amaya’s past begin to swirl, she can’t help but feel like she also has a target on her back. When Kaavi goes missing and is presumed dead, all evidence points to Amaya. However, nothing is as it seems as Jayatissa expertly unravels that each wedding guest has their own dark secret and agenda, and Amaya may not be the only one with a plan to keep the bride from getting her happily ever after…

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Amanda Jayatissa grew up in Sri Lanka, completed her undergrad at Mills College, CA, and lived in the UK before moving back to her sunny little island. She works as a corporate trainer, owns a chain of cookie stores, and is a proud dog-mum to her two spoiled huskies.

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Enjoy the conversation about Sri Lanka and crime fiction.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Martin Walker from France who appeared to talk about his latest Bruno, Chief of Police novel. To Kill a Troubadour is available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3JNxwF4

Here’s the description of To Kill a Troubadour.

When a musician’s new song hits a political nerve, he finds himself in the crosshairs of Spanish nationalists’ ire, and it’s up to Bruno to track down the extremists who seem ready to take deadly measures, in another delightful installment of the internationally acclaimed series featuring Bruno, Chief of Police.

Les Troubadours, a folk music group that Bruno has long supported, go viral with their new number, “Song for Catalonia,” when the Spanish government suddenly bans the song. The songwriter, Joel Martin, is a local enthusiast for the old Occitan language of Périgord and the medieval troubadours, and he sympathizes with the Catalan bid for independence. The success of his song provokes outrage among extreme Spanish nationalists. Then, in a stolen car found on a Périgord back road, police discover a distinctive bullet for a state-of-the-art sniper’s rifle that can kill at three kilometers, and they fear that Joel might be the intended target. 

The French and Spanish governments agree to mount a joint operation to stop the assailants, and Bruno is the local man on the spot who mobilizes his resources to track them down. While Bruno tries to keep the peace, his friend Florence reaches out for help. Her abusive ex-husband is about to be paroled from prison and she fears he will return to reclaim their children. Will Bruno and Florence be able to prevent this unwanted visit? Despite the pressures, there is always time for Bruno to savor les plaisirs of the Dordogne around the table with friends.

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MARTIN WALKER, after a long career of working in international journalism and for think tanks, now gardens, cooks, explores vineyards, writes, travels, and has never been busier. He divides his time between Washington, D.C., and the Dordogne.

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Walker’s discussion of world politics is very interesting. Check out the video.

Award-winning author Sulari Gentill was recently guest host for The Poisoned Pen, welcoming another Australian author, Hayley Scrivenor. Scrivenor is the debut author of Dirt Creek. You can order copies of the book through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3JKWG7m

Here’s the description of Dirt Creek.

Who’s lying about what happened at Dirt Creek?

“Blends a taut psychological thriller with a suspenseful police procedural…Fans of Liane Moriarty and Jane Harper won’t want to miss this page-turner.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A novel of sharp-edged tempers, accidents waiting to happen and dark inheritances.” —New York Times Book Review

When twelve-year-old Esther disappears on the way home from school in a small town in rural Australia, the community is thrown into a maelstrom of suspicion and grief. As Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels arrives in town during the hottest spring in decades and begins her investigation, Esther’s tenacious best friend, Ronnie, is determined to find Esther and bring her home.

When schoolfriend Lewis tells Ronnie that he saw Esther with a strange man at the creek the afternoon she went missing, Ronnie feels she is one step closer to finding her. But why is Lewis refusing to speak to the police? And who else is lying about how much they know about what has happened to Esther?

Punctuated by a Greek chorus, which gives voice to the remaining children of the small, dying town, this novel explores the ties that bind, what we try and leave behind us, and what we can never outrun, while never losing sight of the question of what happened to Esther, and what her loss does to a whole town.

In Hayley Scrivenor’s Dirt Creek, a small-town debut mystery described as The Dry meets Everything I Never Told You, a girl goes missing and a community falls apart and comes together.

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Hayley Scrivenor is a former Director of Wollongong Writers Festival. Dirt Creek is her first novel. Originally from a small country town, Hayley now lives and writes on Dharawal country and has a Ph.D. in creative writing from the University of Wollongong on the south coast of Australia. An earlier version of Dirt Creek was shortlisted for the Penguin Literary Prize and won The Kill Your Darlings Unpublished Manuscript Award.

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Sulari Gentill said that people all across Australia are talking about Dirt Creek. Now, you can talk about Hayley Scrivenor and her book as well.

Ramona Emerson is the debut author of Shutter. I know how much Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, likes to introduce debut authors to readers. She welcomed Emerson as well as David Heska Wanbli Weiden who acted as guest host for the virtual event. There are signed copies of Shutter still in stock in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3BNNWvo

Here’s the summary of Shutter, the August First Mystery Book of the Month at the Pen.

This blood-chilling debut set in New Mexico’s Navajo Nation is equal parts gripping crime thriller, supernatural horror, and poignant portrayal of coming of age on the reservation.

Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police force. Her excellent photography skills have cracked many cases—she is almost supernaturally good at capturing details. In fact, Rita has been hiding a secret: she sees the ghosts of crime victims who point her toward the clues that other investigators overlook. 

As a lone portal back to the living for traumatized spirits, Rita is terrorized by nagging ghosts who won’t let her sleep and who sabotage her personal life. Her taboo and psychologically harrowing ability was what drove her away from the Navajo reservation, where she was raised by her grandmother. It has isolated her from friends and gotten her in trouble with the law.

And now it might be what gets her killed.

When Rita is sent to photograph the scene of a supposed suicide on a highway overpass, the furious, discombobulated ghost of the victim—who insists she was murdered—latches onto Rita, forcing her on a quest for revenge against her killers, and Rita finds herself in the crosshairs of one of Albuquerque’s most dangerous cartels. Written in sparkling, gruesome prose, Shutter is an explosive debut from one of crime fiction’s most powerful new voices. 

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Ramona Emerson is a Diné writer and filmmaker originally from Tohatchi, New Mexico. She has a bachelor’s in Media Arts from the University of New Mexico and an MFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts. After starting in forensic videography, she embarked upon a career as a photographer, writer, and editor. She is an Emmy nominee, a Sundance Native Lab Fellow, a Time-Warner Storyteller Fellow, a Tribeca All-Access Grantee and a WGBH Producer Fellow. In 2020, Emerson was appointed to the Governor’s Council on Film and Media Industries for the State of New Mexico. She currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she and her husband, the producer Kelly Byars, run their production company Reel Indian Pictures. Shutter is her first novel.

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Enjoy this excellent conversation with Ramona Emerson.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently hosted Robert Pobi for a virtual event. Pobi is the author of the Lucas Page novels, and Do No Harm is the third in the series. There are copies of it available in the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/2p96v79d

In Robert Pobi’s thriller Do No Harm, a series of suicides and accidental deaths in the medical community are actually well-disguised murders and only Lucas Page can see the pattern and discern the truth that no one else believes.

Lucas Page is a polymath, astrophysicist, professor, husband, father of five adopted children, bestselling author, and ex-FBI agent—emphasis on “ex.” Severely wounded after being caught in an explosion, Page left the FBI behind and put his focus on the rebuilding the rest of his life. But Page is uniquely gifted in being able to recognize patterns that elude others, a skill that brings the F.B.I. knocking at his door again and again.

Lucas Page’s wife Erin loses a friend, a gifted plastic surgeon, to suicide and Lucas begins to realize how many people Erin knew that have died in the past year, in freak accidents and now suicide. Intrigued despite himself, Page begins digging through obituaries and realizes that there’s a pattern—a bad one. These deaths don’t make sense unless the doctors are being murdered, the target of a particularly clever killer. This time, the FBI wants as little to do with Lucas as he does with them so he’s left with only one option—ignore it and go back to his normal life. But then, the pattern reveals that the next victim is likely to be…Erin herself.

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Robert Pobi is the author of several novels, including the international bestsellers Bloodman and Harvest, as well as the Lucas Page thrillers, which begin with City of Windows. He lives in Canada.

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Enjoy the conversation with Robert Pobi.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently hosted a favorite at the bookstore, Rhys Bowen. There are signed copies of both the hardcover and paperback of Bowen’s Where the Sky Begins available in the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/2p9crc5n

Here’s the description of Where the Sky Begins.

A woman’s future is determined by fate and choice in a gripping WWII novel about danger, triumph, and second chances by the New York Times bestselling author of The Venice Sketchbook and The Tuscan Child.

London, 1940. Bombs fall and Josie Banks’s world crumbles around her. Her overbearing husband, Stan, is unreachable, called to service. Her home, a ruin of rubble and ash. Josie’s beloved tearoom boss has been killed, and Josie herself is injured, with nothing left and nowhere to go.

Evacuated to the English countryside, Josie ends up at the estate of the aristocratic Miss Harcourt, a reluctant host to the survivors of the Blitz. Awed as she is by the magnificent landscape, Josie sees opportunity. Josie convinces Miss Harcourt to let her open a humble tea shop, seeing it as a chance for everyone to begin again. When Josie meets Mike Johnson, a handsome Canadian pilot stationed at a neighboring bomber base, a growing intimacy brings her an inner peace she’s never felt before. Then Stan returns from the war.

Now a threat looms larger than anyone imagined. And a dangerous secret is about to upend Josie’s life again. Her newfound courage will be put to the test if she is to emerge, like a survivor, triumphant.

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Rhys Bowen is the New York Times bestselling author of more than forty novels, including The Venice Sketchbook, Above the Bay of Angels, The Victory Garden, The Tuscan Child, and her World War II novel In Farleigh Field, the winner of the Left Coast Crime “Lefty” Award for Best Historical Mystery Novel and the Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel. Bowen’s work has won twenty honors to date, including multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Awards. Her books have been translated into many languages, and she has fans around the world, including an online following of over two hundred thousand fans worldwide. A transplanted Brit, Bowen divides her time between California and Arizona. To learn more about the author, visit www.rhysbowen.com.

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Enjoy the conversation as Rhys Bowen and Barbara Peters discuss trends in mysteries, World War II, and Bowen’s books.