YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE, NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE.
Let’s preview a few upcoming virtual events. I’m sure there are several you won’t want to miss. Mark them on your calendars, and then check the Web Store for the authors’ books. https://store.poisonedpen.com/ You’ll be able to join the event on The Poisoned Pen’s Facebook page.
Check out these events.
I know how much Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, likes to introduce a debut author. Ashley Winstead’s debut novel is In My Dreams I Hold a Knife. Multi-award winning author and journalist Hank Phillippi Ryan hosted the recent virtual event on behalf of the bookstore. You can order signed copies of the debut through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3D6Z6t9
Here’s the summary of In My Dreams I Hold a Knife.
“[A] mordant debut novel….examines what it means to covet the lives of others, no matter the cost.”—The New York Times
“Tense, twisty, and packed with shocks.”—Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author of Survive The Night
Six friends.
One college reunion.
One unsolved murder.
Ten years after graduation, Jessica Miller has planned her triumphant return to her southern, elite Duquette University, down to the envious whispers that are sure to follow in her wake. Everyone is going to see the girl she wants them to see—confident, beautiful, indifferent. Not the girl she was when she left campus, back when Heather Shelby’s murder fractured everything, including the tight bond linking the six friends she’d been closest to since freshman year.
But not everyone is ready to move on. Not everyone left Duquette ten years ago, and not everyone can let Heather’s murder go unsolved. Someone is determined to trap the real killer, to make the guilty pay. When the six friends are reunited, they will be forced to confront what happened that night—and the years’ worth of secrets each of them would do anything to keep hidden.
Told in racing dual timelines, with a dark campus setting and a darker look at friendship, love, obsession, and ambition, In My Dreams I Hold A Knife is an addictive, propulsive read you won’t be able to put down.
“Beautiful writing, juicy secrets, complex female characters, and drumbeat suspense—what more could you want from a debut thriller?”—Andrea Bartz, author of Reese’s Book Club pick We Were Never Here
Ashley Winstead directs communications for a national philanthropy. She holds a Ph.D. in contemporary American literature and a B.A. in English and Art History. She lives in Houston, TX
Enjoy this introduction to a debut author and novel.
Paper & Blood is the second book in Kevin Hearne’s Ink & Sigil series. The Poisoned Pen was once his local bookstore. The store still hosts him for virtual events. You can find copies of Paper & Blood in the Web Store. They come with signed book plates. https://bit.ly/2Glm6Lt
Here’s the summary of Paper & Blood.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles comes book two of an “action-packed, enchantingly fun” (Booklist) spin-off series, as an eccentric master of rare magic solves a supernatural mystery Down Under!
There’s only one Al MacBharrais: Though other Scotsmen may have dramatic mustaches and a taste for fancy cocktails, Al also has a unique talent. He’s a master of ink and sigil magic. In his gifted hands, paper and pen can work wondrous spells.
But Al isn’t quite alone: He is part of a global network of sigil agents who use their powers to protect the world from mischievous gods and strange monsters. So when a fellow agent disappears under sinister circumstances in Australia, Al leaves behind the cozy pubs and cafes of Glasgow and travels to the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria to solve the mystery.
The trail to his colleague begins to pile up with bodies at alarming speed, so Al is grateful his friends have come to help—especially Nadia, his accountant who moonlights as a pit fighter. Together with a whisky-loving hobgoblin known as Buck Foi and the ancient Druid Atticus O’Sullivan, along with his dogs, Oberon and Starbuck, Al and Nadia will face down the wildest wonders Australia—and the supernatural world—can throw at them, and confront a legendary monster not seen in centuries.
Kevin Hearne hugs trees, pets doggies, and rocks out to heavy metal. He also thinks tacos are a pretty nifty idea. He is the author of The Seven Kennings series and the New York Times bestselling series The Iron Druid Chronicles, and co-author of The Tales of Pell with Delilah S. Dawson.
Enjoy the virtual event with Kevin Hearne, hosted by Patrick King from The Poisoned Pen.
At the time of the virtual event celebrating Naomi Hirahara’s Clark and Division, The Poisoned Pen’s August Historical Crime book of the Month, Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, said they only had two signed copies left. They’re probably all sold out by now, but you can check the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3svq7C0
There were so many positive reviews of this book. Here’s the summary of Clark and Division.
Set in 1944 Chicago, Edgar Award-winner Naomi Hirahara’s eye-opening and poignant new mystery, the story of a young woman searching for the truth about her revered older sister’s death, brings to focus the struggles of one Japanese American family released from mass incarceration at Manzanar during World War II.
Chicago, 1944: Twenty-year-old Aki Ito and her parents have just been released from Manzanar, where they have been detained by the US government since the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, together with thousands of other Japanese Americans. The life in California the Itos were forced to leave behind is gone; instead, they are being resettled two thousand miles away in Chicago, where Aki’s older sister, Rose, was sent months earlier and moved to the new Japanese American neighborhood near Clark and Division streets. But on the eve of the Ito family’s reunion, Rose is killed by a subway train.
Aki, who worshipped her sister, is stunned. Officials are ruling Rose’s death a suicide. Aki cannot believe her perfect, polished, and optimistic sister would end her life. Her instinct tells her there is much more to the story, and she knows she is the only person who could ever learn the truth.
Inspired by historical events, Clark and Division infuses an atmospheric and heartbreakingly real crime fiction plot with rich period details and delicately wrought personal stories Naomi Hirahara has gleaned from thirty years of research and archival work in Japanese American history.
Naomi Hirahara is the Edgar Award”“winning author of the Mas Arai mystery series, including Summer of the Big Bachi, which was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and one of Chicago Tribune‘sTen Best Mysteries and Thrillers; Gasa Gasa Girl; Snakeskin Shamisen; and Hiroshima Boy. She is also the author of the LA-based Ellie Rush mysteries. A former editor of The Rafu Shimpo newspaper, she has co-written non-fiction books like Life after Manzanar and the award-winning Terminal Island: Lost Communities of Los Angeles Harbor. The Stanford University alumna was born and raised in Altadena, CA; she now resides in the adjacent town of Pasadena, CA.
Enjoy the discussion of this fascinating historical mystery.
First, before I share Thomas Kies’ recent blog post, let me introduce the virtual event for Thursday, August 19. Warren Easley, author of No Witness, and Thomas Kies, author of Shadow Hill, will be appearing at 1:30 PM PDT. You can “attend” the event at The Poisoned Pen’s Facebook page. Books by both Sourcebooks/Poisoned Pen Press authors are available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
Kies’ fourth Geneva Chase Crime Reporter novel, Shadow Hill, has just been released. Because Kies’ Geneva Chase has just switched careers, from crime reporter to private investigator, I asked Tom to talk about that. Why did Geneva change careers? What does it have to do with the state of newspapers today?
In my newest mystery, SHADOW HILL, my protagonist, Geneva Chase, has left a fulltime job at her hometown newspaper to work for a company that uses journalists and ex-cops to collect intelligence for well paying clients. She’s gone from being a crime reporter to being a PI.
The main reason she left journalism is her newspaper, the Sheffield Post, is on the brink of being purchased by a major media conglomerate.
Geneva is based on several women I’ve worked with over the years when I too worked in the newspaper and publishing business.
It’s a business that I loved. I did everything, including working as a pressman on a Goss web press in Detroit, becoming a staff writer, eventually becoming an editor, then moving into advertising management, and ultimately becoming the publisher and general manager of a magazine publishing house here on the coast of North Carolina.
I even delivered newspapers during a blizzard in one of the company’s ancient, rear-wheel drive vans. Yikes. Sliding sideways down a hill in a blinding snowstorm is a real adrenaline rush.
Every single day, the business was exciting, interesting, and fun, but filled with the pressures of working on a deadline.
Unfortunately, the business has changed. The combination of the Great Recession, the effects of the Internet, and Covid-19 has been disastrous for newspapers. Their main source of revenue is advertising and all three of the factors I presented have shrunk that revenue stream.
Before the Great Recession, the housing market was booming. Real estate companies were spending a fortune in the classified section of newspapers, along with car dealerships, and companies looking to hire employees.
Starting in 2007-2008, the housing bubble burst followed by cascading disasters in employment and consumer confidence. Companies who always knew about the Internet, suddenly found it very attractive. It was cheap and easy to use. The lucrative classified pages in newspapers diminished to a disastrous level. The advertising in the main pages of the paper also either got smaller or went away altogether.
According to a New York Times article in December of 2019, over the past 15 years, more than one in five papers in the United States has shuttered, and the number of journalists working for newspapers has been cut in half, according to research by the University of North Carolina’s School of Media and Journalism. That has led to the rise of hollowed-out “ghost papers” and communities across the country without any local paper. “Ghost papers” are publications what have severely cut the staff in their newsrooms making any kind of investigative reporting non-existent.
Covid-19 has delivered even more pain to newspapers. When the world shut down in March of 2020, stores, shops, bars, and restaurants all closed their doors for months. Advertising became even scarcer. Even with the world starting to open back up, the number of pages in your local newspaper has become less and less.
An unexpected circumstance from the experience of working from home, more newspaper companies are closing their newsrooms, having offsite printing companies produce their publications, and selling their buildings and other physical assets.
A huge part of the joy of working for a newspaper was being with the people you worked with. Yes, the pressure of daily deadlines could lead to fraying nerves and in-office tension. But at the end of the day, these people were your “newspaper family”. Even though I’ve been out of the business for more than ten years, I still stay in close touch with a lot of them even if it’s through social media on the Internet.
Speaking of the Internet, the way people get their news has changed dramatically.
The transition of news from print, television and radio to digital spaces has caused huge disruptions in the traditional news industry, especially the print news industry. It’s also reflected in the ways individual Americans say they are getting their news. A large majority of Americans get news at least sometimes from digital devices, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Aug. 31-Sept. 7, 2020.
More than eight-in-ten U.S. adults (86%) say they get news from a smartphone, computer or tablet “often” or “sometimes,” including 60% who say they do so often. This is higher than the portion who get news from television, though 68% get news from TV at least sometimes and 40% do so often. Americans turn to radio and print publications for news far less frequently, with half saying they turn to radio at least sometimes (16% do so often) and about a third (32%) saying the same of print (10% get news from print publications often).
So, I’m transitioning Geneva Chase, crime reporter, into going freelance, working gigs for her newspaper on occasion, and working for a company called Lodestar Analytics that does open-source research as well as instigating deep dive investigations.
Personally, I still like newspapers. I get the paper out of Raleigh every day (even they’ve stopped printing on Saturdays, however) and my local newspaper (which has cut back from three days a week to two), as well as the Sunday New York Times (which seems to be flourishing).
I also subscribe to a digital Washington Post feed and routinely scan other websites (all free) for news from around the globe. I’m a news junkie and the Internet feeds my addiction.
Still, I’m happiest when I’m writing scenes where Geneva Chase is working in the newsroom. She’s got ink in her veins. I’d like to think that I do too.
For those looking to start with the first in the series, Random Road introduces Geneva Chase. If you’d like to catch up with her latest case, here’s the summary of Shadow Hill.
How far would someone go to protect corporate profits?
Just days before Morris Cutter, a retired powerful oil executive, is scheduled to give a pseudo-scientific report to Congress that will delay crucial action on climate change for decades, he and his wife are found shot to death in their Greenwich, Connecticut, home. The police call it murder-suicide. The couple’s son refuses to accept the official conclusion and hires Geneva Chase, crime reporter turned private detective, to prove otherwise.
Genie soon learns that there are suspects everywhere, including within the deceased’s immediate family. Morris Cutter’s own daughter hadn’t spoken with him in years, and his nephew is a climate activist with a radical organization. But Cutter’s former company has a vested interest in keeping a low profile until it is able to present its mock-science on Capitol Hill. Genie is bribed, then threatened, to wrap up her investigation before the scheduled hearing date—and to concur with the police findings.
When the lead scientist of the study goes missing, followed by Cutter’s daughter, Genie begins to piece together what actually may have happened to Morris and Julia Cutter, putting herself in harm’s way as she races to find the truth.
Thomas Kies’ website is https://thomaskiesauthor.com/
Shadow Hill by Thomas Kies. Sourcebooks/Poisoned Pen Press, 2021. ISBN 9781464214400 (paperback), 320p.
John Charles from The Poisoned Pen recently hosted four authors who write cozy mysteries for Kensington Books. If you’re a fan of cozy mysteries, you’ll want to meet all the authors who set their books in he worlds of tea, coffee and specialized gardens. Karen Rose Smith’s latest mystery is Murder with Orange Pekoe Tea. A Glimmer of a Clue is Daryl Wood Gerber’s latest. Emmeline Duncan’s first Ground Rules mystery is Fresh Brewed Murder. Murder in a Teacup is the second Tea by the Sea mystery by Vicki Delany. Their books are all available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
Here are all of the latest books.
In Pennsylvania’s Amish country, Daisy Swanson is serving hot tea at a fundraiser for a homeless shelter–but tempers are getting heated too…
Daisy’s orange pekoe is flowing at a fundraiser—and she’s also made a new friend, Piper, a young woman whose hopes for motherhood were dashed by a foul-up at a fertility clinic. But before they can settle into a long conversation, the event is disupted by masked protestors who object to building a shelter in Willow Creek. Among the angry crowd is Eli—who left his Amish community some time ago, with help from a lawyer named Hiram.
It just so happens that Hiram is also representing the fertility clinic in a class-action suit—and soon afterward, he turns up dead, felled by an insulin injection. Daisy can’t help but get drawn in, especially since Piper’s husband had been pretty steamed at the victim and didn’t hide it. She’d love to spend some time with the dog she and her boyfriend have just adopted—but first she ‘ll be straining to find a killer…
From Agatha Award-winning author Daryl Wood Gerber, the second in an enchantingly whimsical series featuring Courtney Kelly, the owner of a fairy-gardening and tea shop in Carmel, California. It’s a special place brimming with good vibes, lush greenery, miniature fairy accessories, and soothing fountains; the perfect venue for book club teas and home to a cat named Pixie. But in Carmel-by-the-Sea, things aren’t all sweetness and fairy lights…
When Courtney’s friend Wanda gets into a ponytail-pulling wrestling match in public with a nasty local art critic, Courtney stops the fight with the help of a garden hose. But Lana Lamar has a talent for escalating things and creating tension, which she succeeds in doing by threatening a lawsuit, getting into yet another scuffle–in the midst of an elegant fundraiser, no less–and lobbing insults around like pickleballs.
Next thing Courtney knows, Lana is on the floor, stabbed with a decorative letter opener from one of Courtney’s fairy gardens, and Wanda is standing by asking “What have I done?” But the answer may not be as obvious as it seems, since Wanda is prone to sleepwalking and appears to be in a daze. Could she have risen from her nap and committed murder while unconscious? Or is the guilty party someone else Lana’s ticked off, like her long-suffering husband? To find out, Courtney will have to dig up some dirt…
With its entrepreneurial, 20-something protagonist, focus on a hipster-run food truck pod in Portland, Oregon, and real-world issues involving homelessness and gentrification, Fresh Brewed Murder is a trendy, updated cozy mystery that offers strong appeal to Millennial and Gen Z readers.
Master barista Sage Caplin is opening a new coffee cart in Portland, Oregon, but a killer is brewing up a world of trouble…
Portland is famous for its rain, hipsters, craft beers…and coffee. Sage Caplin has high hopes for her coffee truck, Ground Rules, which she runs with her business partner, Harley–a genius at roasting beans and devising new blends. That’s essential in a city where locals have intensely strong opinions about cappuccino versus macchiato–especially in the case of one of Sage’s very first customers…
Sage finds the man’s body in front of her truck, a fatal slash across his neck. There’s been plenty of anger in the air, from long-time vendors annoyed at Ground Rules taking a coveted spot in the food truck lot, to protestors demonstrating against a new high-rise. But who was mad enough to commit murder? Sage is already fending off trouble in the form of her estranged, con-artist mother, who’s trying to trickle back into her life. But when Sage’s very own box cutter is discovered to be the murder weapon, she needs to focus on finding the killer fast–before her business, and her life, come to a bitter end…
National bestselling author Vicki Delany’s delightful Tea by the Sea mystery series continues, as Cape Cod tearoom proprietress and part-time sleuth, Lily Roberts, stirs up trouble when she unwittingly serves one of her grandmother’s B&B guests a deadly cup of tea…
Lily has her work cut out for her when a visit from her grandmother Rose’s dear friend, Sandra McHenry, turns into an unexpected–and unpleasant–McHenry family reunion. The squabbling boils over and soon Tea by the Sea’s serene afternoon service resembles the proverbial tempest in a teapot. Somehow, Lily and her tearoom survive the storm, and Sandra’s bickering brethren finally retreat to Rose’s B & B. But later that evening, a member of their party–harmless Ed French–dies from an apparent poisoning and suddenly Tea by the Sea is both scene and suspect in a murder investigation!
Mercifully, none of the other guests fall ill. They all ate the same food, but Ed insisted on bringing his own special blend of herbal teas. So it seems, amid the whining and dining, someone snuck up to one of Lily’s cherished teapots and fatally spiked Ed’s bespoke brew, but who? Was it Ed’s long-estranged sister-in-law? Did teenage troublemaker Tyler take a prank too far? Or perhaps the family’s feuds have been steeping for longer than anyone realizes? It’s up to Lily, Rose, and their friends to get to the bottom of the poisoned pot and bag the real culprit behind the kettle murder plot.
You can watch the entire event below. Just a note. There were technical difficulties so the introduction to the authors is repeated at about 8 minutes, 58 seconds. In other words, you can start at that point without missing anything.
Catherine Coulter’s Vortex was the Hot Book of the Week for The Poisoned Pen. You’ll want to snatch up a signed copy while they’re still available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3kvw2lO
Here’s the summary of Vortex.
#1 New York Times bestselling Catherine Coulter returns with a brilliant new novel in her FBI thriller series, in which agents Sherlock and Savich find themselves dealing with very powerful figures from the past who could wreak havoc in the present.
Seven years ago, Mia Briscoe was at a college frat rave with her best friend, Serena, when a fire broke out. Everyone was accounted for except Serena, who was never seen nor heard from again. Now an investigative journalist covering the political scene in New York City, Mia discovers old photos taken the night of Serena’s disappearance and begins to uncover a sinister string of events going all the way back to that disastrous party. Working with Sherlock, the secrets begin to unravel. But some very powerful—and very dangerous—people will do anything to keep them from learning the truth.
CIA Operative Olivia Hildebrandt is a team leader on a mission in Iran to exfiltrate a betrayed undercover operative. She’s nearly killed by an exploding grenade and saved by a team member. But by the time Olivia is released from Walter Reed Hospital, that team member and a critical flash drive he was carrying have disappeared. When Olivia is attacked on her first night home, Savich suspects that the strike is a direct result of the compromised mission and the missing team member and flash drive. But what intelligence was at stake and who betrayed them?
Catherine Coulter is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of eighty-seven novels, including the FBI Thriller series and A Brit in the FBI international thriller series, cowritten with J.T. Ellison. Coulter lives in Sausalito, California, with her Ãœbermensch husband and their two noble cats, Peyton and Eli.
Enjoy the conversation with Catherine Coulter and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.
Part 2 of an Awesome August
Tess Gerritsen and Gary Braver met at a cocktail party a few years ago, and came up with the idea for their new book, Choose Me. It’s set in the world of what Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, referred to as “dark academia”. There are signed copies of Choose Me available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3COsVPe
Here’s the description of Choose Me.
From New York Times bestseller Tess Gerritsen and acclaimed thriller writer Gary Braver comes a sexy murder mystery about a reckless affair and dangerous secrets.
Taryn Moore is young, beautiful, and brilliant…so why would she kill herself? When Detective Frankie Loomis arrives on the scene to investigate the girl’s fatal plunge from her apartment balcony, she knows in her gut there’s more to the story. Her instincts are confirmed when surprise information is revealed that could have been reason enough for Taryn’s suicide—or a motive for her murder.
To English professor Jack Dorian, Taryn was the ultimate fantasy: intelligent, adoring, and completely off limits. But there was also a dark side to Taryn, a dangerous streak that threatened those she turned her affections to—including Jack. And now that she’s dead, his problems are just beginning.
After Frankie uncovers a trove of sordid secrets, it becomes clear that Jack may know the truth. He is guilty of deception, but is he capable of cold-blooded murder?
International bestselling author Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career: it wasn’t until she was on maternity leave from her job as a physician that she began to write. Since then, she’s written twenty-eight suspense novels, with more than thirty million copies sold. Her books have been translated into forty languages, and her series featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the hit TNT television series Rizzoli & Isles, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander. Gerritsen now writes full-time and lives in Maine.
Gary Braver—pen name of college professor Gary Goshgarian—is the bestselling author of eight critically acclaimed mysteries and thrillers, including Gray Matter and Flashback, the first thriller to win the Massachusetts Book Award. His work has been translated into several languages; two have been optioned for film, including Elixir. As Gary Goshgarian, he teaches science fiction, horror fiction, bestsellers, and fiction writing at Northeastern University. He lives with his family outside Boston. Learn more at www.GaryBraver.com.
You’ll want to hear the backstory of the writing of Choose Me.
Get a signed copy of Jenn McKinlay’s romantic comedy, Wait For It, while you can. No names mentioned, but copies never showed up at another Arizona bookstore, so if you buy it from The Poisoned Pen now, you know signed copies are in stock. https://bit.ly/2v0jw8V
If you’re a fan of McKinlay’s mysteries or romcoms, you’ll enjoy her conversation with John Charles. There’s as much humor in one of Jenn’s conversations as in her books.
Here’s the summary of Wait For It.
A woman looking for a new lease on life moves to Arizona where she rents a guest house on a gorgeous property with a mysterious owner—a man who teaches her about resilience, courage, and ultimately true love, in this funny, bighearted novel about hope and healing from New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay.
Stuck in a dreary Boston winter, Annabelle Martin would like nothing more than to run away from her current life. She’s not even thirty years old, twice-divorced, and has just dodged a marriage proposal… from her ex-husband. When she’s offered her dream job as creative director at a cutting-edge graphic design studio in Phoenix, she jumps at the opportunity to start over.
When she arrives in the Valley of the Sun, Annabelle is instantly intrigued by her anonymous landlord. Based on the cranky, handwritten notes Nick Daire leaves her, she assumes he is an old, rich curmudgeon. Annabelle is shocked when she finally meets Nick and discovers that he’s her age and uses a wheelchair. Nick suffered from a stroke a year ago, and while there’s no physical reason for him not to recover, he is struggling to overcome the paralyzing fear that has kept him a prisoner in his own home.
Despite her promise to herself not to get involved, Annabelle finds herself irresistibly drawn to Nick. And soon she wonders if she and Nick might help each other find the courage to embrace life, happiness, and true love.
Jenn McKinlay is the award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of several mystery and romance series. Her work has been translated into multiple languages in countries all over the world. She lives in sunny Arizona in a house that is overrun with kids, pets, and her husband’s guitars.
Enjoy the conversation. (And, enjoy Wait For It.)