Let me share Sri Lankan author Amanda Jayatissa’s short bio because Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, asked her about cookies.
Amanda Jayatissa grew up in Sri Lanka, completed her undergrad at Mills College in California 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.
Jayatissa talks about cookies and her new book, My Sweet Girl, in a recent virtual event. It’s a fun event, and Jayatissa spoke for readers in the morning from her home in Sri Lanka. Her book is available through the Web Store, and there are signed book plates that will accompany your books. https://bit.ly/3AwyMHl
Here’s the description of My Sweet Girl.
“Fiendish, full-of-twists…Sri Lankan author Amanda Jayatissa keeps us guessing and worrying until the very end”—The New York Times
“A thriller centered on the meaning of identity and all the layers it can have.”—NPR
A Most Anticipated Novel of Fall 2021 by Entertainment Weekly, NPR, New York Post, The Boston Globe, Fortune, Buzzfeed, Goodreads, Shondaland, PopSugar, Bustle, Crime Reads, BookRiot, Crime by the Book, The Nerd Daily, The Every Girl, and more!
Paloma thought her perfect life would begin once she was adopted and made it to America, but she’s about to find out that no matter how far you run, your past always catches up to you…
Ever since she was adopted from a Sri Lankan orphanage, Paloma has had the best of everything—schools, money, and parents so perfect that she fears she’ll never live up to them.
Now at thirty years old and recently cut off from her parents’ funds, she decides to sublet the second bedroom of her overpriced San Francisco apartment to Arun, who recently moved from India. Paloma has to admit, it feels good helping someone find their way in America—that is until Arun discovers Paloma’s darkest secret, one that could jeopardize her own fragile place in this country.
Before Paloma can pay Arun off, she finds him face down in a pool of blood. She flees the apartment but by the time the police arrive, there’s no body—and no evidence that Arun ever even existed in the first place.
Paloma is terrified this is all somehow tangled up in the desperate actions she took to escape Sri Lanka so many years ago. Did Paloma’s secret die with Arun or is she now in greater danger than ever before?
Dennis Palumbo’s sixth Daniel Rinaldi thriller, Panic Attack, is due out on Sept. 21. You can order it through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3tRYpjc
Because of the release date, it seemed the perfect time to interview Palumbo. He’s written several guest posts here, but I’ve never interviewed him.
Thank you, Dennis, for taking the time to answer some questions.
Dennis, you have a whole other life other than as a crime writer. Would you introduce yourself?
I’m a former Hollywood screenwriter (MY FAVORITE YEAR; WELCOME BACK, KOTTER, etc.) who is now a licensed psychotherapist in private practice, specializing in creative issues. I’ve been in practice almost thirty years, working primarily with writers.
Why did you want to write mysteries?
I’ve always loved mysteries, since my father got me THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES when I was ten years old, home sick from school. Even while on staff at network sitcoms in the 1970’s, I was selling mystery short stories to ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Since then, my short stories have appeared in THE STRAND, WRITTEN BY, MYSTERY WEEKLY, BLACK CAT MAGAZINE and the recent collection of original stories called COAST TO COAST NOIR. I have a collection of my short stories in a book called FROM CRIME TO CRIME. So, apparently, once the bug bit, it lingered!
Would you introduce us to Daniel Rinaldi?
I’d always wanted to create a series character, especially one whose traits and experience mirrored my own. I also wanted to set a series in Pittsburgh, my home town, and to use the books as a way to explore and comment on the state of the mental health system. Like me, Daniel Rinaldi is from a blue-collar family, born and raised in Pittsburgh, and a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. Unlike me, he’s a former amateur boxer (Golden Gloves, Pam Am Games). In his present life, Rinaldi is a psychologist and trauma expert who consults with the Pittsburgh Police. His specialty is working with victims of violent crime—those who may have survived the kidnapping or assault, but are still traumatized by their experience. These patients have many of the symptoms we associate with PTSD. Moreover, Rinaldi is himself a victim of such trauma: his wife was killed during a mugging, and though he was grievously injured, Daniel survived. This was the source of his mission to help other victims of violent crime, while he himself struggles with significant survivor guilt. His friends and colleagues believe it’s this guilt that propels him into numerous dangerous situations.
Tell us about Panic Attack, without spoilers.
This latest Rinaldi thriller concerns an unknown rooftop sniper who’s seemingly choosing his targets at random. Dubbed the Steel City Sniper by the media, he’s managed to escape detection for weeks while his list of victims mount. Until, at some point, he’s captured by the police, which should bring the killings to an end…except that’s when the real mystery begins.
How do you keep Pittsburgh fresh in your books?
That’s pretty easy, since Pittsburgh itself is constantly changing. Its endured significant birth pains as it’s transitioned from an industrial, blue-collar town into a white-collar, sophisticated hub of state-of-the-art medicine and high tech. This tense, uneasy relationship between the old Pittsburgh and the new makes the city a fascinating character itself in the series.
What kind of research do you do for your books?
A fairly wide range, from being up-to-date on the latest clinical thinking in the psychology field to police procedure to the topography of Pittsburgh itself. With a city undergoing such upheaval, with old neighborhoods being gentrified to such an extent that many citizens can no longer afford them, I tend to count on my friends in Pittsburgh to keep me posted on changes. I’ll often call one of them to ask questions like “Is the Penn Hotel still there?” One funny thing: I hear from a lot of readers living in Pittsburgh, and they never seem to have a problem with my characters or the plots. But I’ll get an email that says, “Hey, you have Rinaldi making a left on South Street. You can’t do that after five o’clock.” With every book, I get schooled on at least one traffic error. When you write about a real place (where, admittedly, I haven’t lived in many, many years), such comments come with the territory.
COVID and isolation affected authors differently, just as it did for the rest of us. Some were paralyzed while others found a burst of creativity. How did the last year affect you and your writing?
I was lucky in that the lockdown enabled me to devote myself to writing PANIC ATTACK. Because of the demands of my therapy practice, it usually takes me forever to come out with a new Rinaldi. But the lockdown seemed to give me more breathing room to write. That said, many of my writer patients were indeed paralyzed during the lockdown, crippled by anxiety and/or depression. Even writers who are on the whole introverted and accustomed to the solitude of writing found the pandemic restrictions to be psychologically upsetting. Then again, an equal number relished the “freedom” occasioned by the COVID virus and reported that the lockdown seemed to be like a writer’s retreat.
What books first brought you to the mystery field? Books you read as a child, or as an adult?
As I mentioned, Conan Doyle’s Holmes stories gripped my boyhood imagination, as did the Hardy Boys series. By high school, I was reading Chandler and Hammett, plus James M. Cain and Erle Stanley Gardner. As an adult, my interest in creating my own series character was fueled by reading Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, Robert Block and John Lescroart. Then there’re beautiful writers like Richard Price and George V. Higgins, and the new crop that includes Gillian Flynn, Tara French and S.A. Cosby. The list of crime writers I admire grows daily!
In a related question, if you had to recommend 5 books to a person so they could get a feel for our reading taste, what 5 would you recommend?
Just whittling it down to five is a difficult task, but I’ll give it a go: THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE by George V. Higgins; THE POET by Michael Connelly; GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn; THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett and THE CHILL by Ross MacDonald. But ask me on another day and you’d get a different list (probably one that includes Chandler, Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky, Raymond Chandler, Dennis Lehane, and on and on).
What’s on your TBR pile?
THE REVENGE OF GEOGRAPHY by Robert D. Kaplan; TWO KINDS OF TRUTH by Michael Connelly; HER PERFECT LIFE by Hank Phillippi Ryan; SCHOPENHAUER: A Biography by David E. Cartwright; STREET MUSIC by Tim Hallinan; RAZORBLADE TEARS by S.A. Cosby
Dark Intercept is the first in Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson’s new The Shepherds series. When they appeared for a virtual event for The Poisoned Pen, Julia Spencer-Fleming was guest host. You can order a copy of Dark Intercept through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3kkZKvK
Here is the description of Dark Intercept.
When dark forces rise, are faith and firepower enough? On the eve of his medical retirement, Navy SEAL Jedidiah Johnson receives a frantic call from his estranged childhood best friend David Yarnell. David’s daughter has been kidnapped off the streets of Nashville in broad daylight. The police have no suspects and no leads. The only clue: the body of a dead priest left behind at the scene. With the clock ticking, David is growing desperate, as is his wife, Rachel . . . Jed’s first love.
Despite his painful history with David and Rachel, Jed agrees to help. But he’s spent his career as a door-kicking Navy SEAL, not an investigator. His presence immediately draws unwanted attention, creates friction with the local police, and triggers a mysterious attempt on his life. Just when he thinks things can’t get worse, it starts to happen again—the voices in his head, the nightmares, the visions. Dark memories and strange abilities, things he believed he’d left behind when he fled Nashville for the Navy at eighteen, begin to resurface.
Jed realizes that to save the missing girl, he must take a leap of faith and embrace the gifts he’s denied for all these years. To foil this dark intercept, he’ll need more than just his years as a SEAL operator, because he has no choice now but to take up arms and join the battle in the unseen spiritual warfare raging all around him. And there is far more at stake than just a missing girl: the world is not the place he thought it was—and he is not alone.
Follow the military heroes of The Shepherds series as they bring the power of light into the dark mystery of Sara Beth’s abduction.
Meet the authors, enjoy the conversation with Julia Spencer-Fleming, and check out the offer they make if readers buy Dark Intercept from a “brick-and-mortar” bookstore such as The Poisoned Pen.
Today, Scott Graham, author of the National Park Mystery series, is guest author. Graham’s latest book, Canyonlands Carnage, was just released, and is available through the Web Store now. https://bit.ly/3keEuIa
Before I turn the blog over to Scott, let me introduce him, and Canyonlands Carnage.
SCOTT GRAHAM is the author of the acclaimed National Park Mystery series, featuring archaeologist Chuck Bender and Chuck’s spouse Janelle Ortega. In addition to the National Park Mystery series, Scott is the author of five nonfiction books, including Extreme Kids, winner of the National Outdoor Book Award. Scott is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys backpacking, river rafting, skiing, and mountaineering. He has made a living as a newspaper reporter, magazine editor, radio disk jockey, and coal”“shoveling fireman on the steam”“powered Durango”“Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. He lives with his spouse, who is an emergency physician, in Durango, Colorado.
Here’s the summary of Canyonlands Carnage.
“A confluence of thrills, history, and mystery as twisty as the Colorado River.” —MICKI BROWNING, author ofShadow Ridge
When suspicious deaths befall a whitewater rafting expedition through Cataract Canyon in Canyonlands National Park, archaeologist Chuck Bender and his family recognize evil intent lies behind the tragedies. They must risk their lives and act before the murderer makes an already deadly journey on the Colorado River through Utah’s red rock wilderness even deadlier—or turns on them instead.
Thank you, Scott, for taking time for this piece.
What I’ve Learned from Lori Rader-Day, Elizabeth Little, and Margaret Mizushima
I’ve always loved reading murder mysteries. Now that I’m writing a mystery series myself, I love reading mysteries all the more—not only for the enjoyment they provide me, but for all I learn from them as well.
As I pore through mysteries these days, I find the one ingredient that continues to hook me into a mystery more than any other after all these years is the author’s personal passion for their subject. No matter what subject a mystery might involve—scuba diving, art heists, ballroom dancing, Scrabble, you name it—the fact that the author cares deeply about their topic invariably draws me into their story.
In last year’s The Lucky One (William Morrow), for example, Lori Rader-Day drew me into the murky world of unidentified Jane Does, introducing me to a fascinating slice of America I barely knew existed. While Rader-Day’s mystery is a terrific read that is fully deserving of all the accolades and award nominations it has received, the many details I learned about the work of citizen sleuths to identify unknown dead bodies made reading it all the richer for me.
Likewise, Elizabeth Little’s 2020 comic mystery Pretty as a Picture (Penguin) took me deep inside the twisted world of modern filmmaking. I laughed out loud at the travails of Little’s troubled film-editor protagonist while vicariously experiencing—and thereby learning lots about—a world far removed from my own.
My friend and fellow writer-in-crime Margaret Mizushima lets her passion for animals shine through in her Timber Creek K-9 series (Crooked Lane Books) featuring sheriff’s deputy Mattie Cobb and Mattie’s K-9 partner Robo. Margaret is married to a veterinarian and helps run his practice in Colorado. The true-life animal stories she shares in each of her mysteries, drawn directly from her veterinary world, are as absorbing to me as the murderously fine mysteries she tells.
I’ve embraced the idea of sharing that which I’m passionate about in my own National Park Mysteries (Torrey House Press), and I believe that has led to the steadily increasing success of each new release in the series.
The central mystery of last year’s Mesa Verde Victim, No. 6 in the series, involves the repatriation of skeletal human remains dug up from ancient Indigenous graves across the West and held by museums around the world for more than a century, while the subject of the seventh installment in my series, Canyonlands Carnage, released Sept. 14, is the vexing issue of water scarcity in the increasingly arid Southwest. Both subjects have long intrigued me, and I have studied them with passionate intensity over many years. I hope sharing my passion for those subjects with my readers enhances their reading experience, just as Lori Rader-Day, Elizabeth Little, and Margaret Mizushima have enhanced mine.
Scott Graham is the National Outdoor Book Award-winning author of the National Park Mystery Series for Torrey House Press. The seventh book in the series, Canyonlands Carnage, was released Sept. 14. More information at scottfranklingraham.com. Here’s the link to his Facebook Live interview on Sept. 4 with Barbara Peters at Poisoned Pen with Margaret Mizushima: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=146531517646775&ref=watch_permalink.
Or, if you would prefer to go directly to the YouTube link to the event with Margaret Mizushima, here it is.
Kyle Mills’ virtual event at The Poisoned Pen for Enemy at the Gates, the twentieth Mitch Rapp novel, features not only the discussion of the book, but also the history of the series, and even a little history of Thrillerfest. And, if you buy a copy of Enemy at the Gates through the Web Store, you’ll get a signed book plate, and a signed outline page from the book. https://bit.ly/2DvX1MD
Here’s the description of Enemy at the Gates.
Picking up where the “tour de force” (The Providence Journal) Total Power left off, the next thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series follows the CIA’s top operative as he searches for a high-level mole with the power to rewrite the world order.
Mitch Rapp has worked for a number of presidents over his career, but Anthony Cook is unlike any he’s encountered before. Cunning and autocratic, he feels no loyalty to America’s institutions and is distrustful of the influence Rapp and CIA director Irene Kennedy have in Washington.
Meanwhile, when Kennedy discovers evidence of a mole scouring the Agency’s database for sensitive information on Nicholas Ward, the world’s first trillionaire, she convinces Rapp to take a job protecting him. In doing so, he finds himself walking an impossible tightrope: Keep the man alive, but also use him as bait to uncover a traitor who has seemingly unlimited access to government secrets.
As the attacks on Ward become increasingly dire, Rapp and Kennedy are dragged into a world where the lines between governments, multinational corporations, and the hyper-wealthy fade. An environment in which liberty, nationality, and loyalty are meaningless. Only the pursuit of power remains.
As “one of the best thriller writers on the planet” (The Real Book Spy), Kyle Mills has created another nail-biter that not only echoes the America of today, but also offers a glimpse into its possible future.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Vince Flynn (1966″“2013) created one of contemporary fiction’s most popular heroes: CIA counterterrorist agent Mitch Rapp, featured in thirteen of Flynn’s acclaimed political thrillers. All of his novels are New York Times bestsellers, including his stand-alone debut novel, Term Limits.
Kyle Mills is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of nineteen political thrillers, including Total Power, Lethal Agent, and Red War for Vince Flynn and The Patriot Attack for Robert Ludlum. He initially found inspiration from his father, the former director of Interpol, and still draws on his contacts in the intelligence community to give his books such realism. Avid outdoor athletes, he and his wife have lived in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for over twenty years. Visit his website at KyleMills.com.
Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, hosted Zoje Stage, author of Baby Teeth, Wonderland, and, now Getaway. There are signed copies of Getaway still available in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2YR8aCV
Here’s the description of Getaway.
In this terrifying novel from the bestselling “master of the psychological thriller” and author of Baby Teeth (Entertainment Weekly), three friends set off on a hike into the Grand Canyon—only to discover it’s not so easy to leave the world behind.It was supposed to be the perfect week away . . .
Imogen and Beck, two sisters who couldn’t be more different, have been friends with Tilda since high school. Once inseparable, over two decades the women have grown apart. But after Imogen survives a traumatic attack, Beck suggests they all reunite to hike deep into the Grand Canyon’s backcountry. A week away, secluded in nature . . . surely it’s just what they need.
But as the terrain grows tougher, tensions from their shared past bubble up. And when supplies begin to disappear, it becomes clear secrets aren’t the only thing they’re being stalked by. As friendship and survival collide with an unspeakable evil, Getaway becomes another riveting thriller from a growing master of suspense and a “literary horror writer on the rise” (BookPage).
“You won’t blink until you read the last line.” —Publishers Weekly
“A chilling thriller that will definitely make you lose sleep at night.” —PopSugar
“I’ve been waiting for a thriller to capture the emotional depth of women for years. . . . I can’t recommend Getaway enough.” —Tarryn Fisher, New York Times bestselling author of The Wives and The Wrong Family
“Tense, unpredictable, and utterly compelling, Stage’s complex story of friendship and survival is a must-read.” —Karen Dionne, New York Times bestselling author of The Marsh King’s Daughter
“A harrowing, heart-pounding thrill ride.”—Rachel Harrison, author of The Return
Zoje Stage is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of Baby Teeth and Wonderland. A former filmmaker with a penchant for the dark and suspenseful, she lives in Pittsburgh.
I think you’ll appreciate the conversation, first about Baby Teeth and how a family copes, and then Stage’s Getaway.
Although Dervla McTiernan lives in Perth, Australia, she’s originally from Ireland, so it was an Irish virtual event when Catherine Ryan Howard hosted her for The Poisoned Pen. McTiernan was talking about her latest book, The Good Turn. Copies of her book, and signed copies of Howard’s thriller, 56 Days, are available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
Here’s the summary of The Good Turn.
Some lines should never be crossed.
Police corruption, an investigation that ends in tragedy, and the mystery of a little girl’s silence—three unconnected events that will prove to be linked by one small town.
While Detective Cormac Reilly faces enemies at work and trouble in his personal life, Garda Peter Fisher is relocated out of Galway with the threat of prosecution hanging over his head. But even that is not as terrible as having to work for his overbearing father, the local copper for the pretty seaside town of Roundstone.
For some, like Anna and her young daughter, Tilly, Roundstone is a refuge from trauma. But even this village on the edge of the sea isn’t far enough to escape from the shadows of evil men.
International no.1 bestseller Dervla McTiernan’s first two novels, The Rúin and The Scholar, were critically acclaimed around the world. Dervla has won multiple prizes, including a Ned Kelly Award, Davitt Awards, a Barry Award, and an International Thriller Writers Award, and has been shortlisted for numerous others. Dervla’s third book, The Good Turn, went straight to no.1 in the bestseller charts, confirming her place as one of Australia’s best and most popular crime writers.
The authors spoke about books, the lockdown for COVID, and other subjects. You’ll want to check out the virtual event.
John Charles from The Poisoned Pen recently hosted six authors who write cozy mysteries and are published by Crooked Lane Books. You can find their books in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
The best way to learn about the books is to either look them up in the Web Store or watch the video. Authors who participated are Lucy Burdette, A Scone of Contention; Katharine Schellman, Silence in the Library; Betty Hechtman, One for the Hooks; Ellen Byron/Marie DiRico, Cajun Kiss of Death (as Ellen Byron); Audrey Keown, Dust to Dust; and Carole Bugge, writing as Elizabeth Blake, Death and Sensibility.
As I said, the best way to learn about the authors and their books is to watch the recent Crooked Lane Cozy Con.
Alice Feeney has just moved into a thatched cottage somewhere in Devon, and she only has one room with Internet. She spoke with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, from that cottage, and tells a little about it in the virtual event. She really was talking with Peters, though, to discuss her fourth novel, Rock Scissors Paper. You can order a copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2Xtrjr1
Here’s the summary of Rock Paper Scissors.
“Feeney lives up to her reputation as the “queen of the twist”…This page-turner will keep you guessing.” —Real Simple Think you know the person you married? Think again…
Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.
Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts–paper, cotton, pottery, tin–and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.
Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.
Rock Paper Scissors is the latest exciting domestic thriller from the queen of the killer twist, New York Times bestselling author Alice Feeney.
ALICE FEENEY is a writer and journalist. She spent fifteen years with BBC News where she worked as a reporter, news editor, arts and entertainment producer, and One O’Clock news producer. Alice has lived in London and Sydney and has now settled in the Surrey countryside, where she lives with her husband and dog. His & Hers is her third novel, after Sometimes I Lie and I Know Who You Are.
Enjoy the conversation about thatched cottages, TV movies, and Rock Paper Scissors.
When Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen says Stuart Neville’s The House of Ashes “Scared the hell out of me”, you know it must be a frightening novel. Neville and Millikin talk about the new book, of course, but they also talk about guitars. You can’t buy all the guitars on Neville’s walls, but you can order a copy of The House of Ashes through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2X1hOSB
Here’s the description of The House of Ashes.
For fans of Gillian Flynn and Tana French, a chilling story of a Northern Irish murder sixty years buried
Sara Keane’s husband, Damien, has uprooted them from England and moved them to his native Northern Ireland for a “fresh start” in the wake of her nervous breakdown. Sara, who knows no one in Northern Ireland, is jobless, carless, friendless—all but a prisoner in her own house. When a blood-soaked old woman beats on the door, insisting the house is hers before being bundled back to her care facility, Sara begins to understand the house has a terrible history her husband never intended for her to discover. As the two women form a bond over their shared traumas, Sara finds the strength to stand up to her abuser, and Mary—silent for six decades—is finally ready to tell her story . . .
Through the counterpoint voices—one modern Englishwoman, one Northern Irish farmgirl speaking from half a century earlier—Stuart Neville offers a chilling and gorgeous portrait of violence and resilience in this truly haunting narrative.
Stuart Neville, the “king of Belfast noir” (The Guardian), is the author of the short story collection The Traveller, as well as nine novels, for which he has won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and been shortlisted for the Edgar, Macavity, Dilys, Barry, and Anthony Awards as well as the CWA Steel Dagger. He lives near Belfast.
It’s an interesting conversation with Stuart Neville. Check it out.
