Matt Coyle, in Conversation

Patrick Millikin recently hosted Matt Coyle, author of the Rick Cahill books. Blind Vigil is the seventh in the series. Coyle still had the copies to be signed at the time of the virtual event, but signed copies will be in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2W44OI0

Here’s the summary of Blind Vigil.

Anthony, Shamus, and Lefty Award-winning Author

A friend arrested for murder. A vicious killer lurking in the shadows. A world of darkness.

Blinded by a gunshot wound to the face while working as a private investigator nine months ago, Rick Cahill is now sure of only one thing: he has to start a new life and leave his old one behind.

He’s still trying to figure out what that life is when his onetime partner, Moira MacFarlane, asks for his help on a case she’s taken for Rick’s former best friend. The case is simple and Moira only needs Rick for one interview, but Rick is wary of waking sleeping demons.

Ultimately, he goes against his gut and takes the case which quickly turns deadly. Rick’s old compulsion of finding the truth no matter the cost—the same compulsion that cost him his eyesight and almost his life—battles against his desire to escape his past.

The stakes are raised when Rick’s friend is implicated in murder and needs his help. Can he help the friend he no longer trusts while questioning his own lessened capabilities? His life depends on the answer as a shadowy killer lurks in the darkness.

Perfect for fans of Michael Connelly and John Sandford

*****

Here’s the virtual event with Matt Coyle.

Hosting Two of the Greats

If you missed the virtual event at The Poisoned Pen, you can now catch the video of the two greats as Lee Child, author of The Sentinel interviewed James Patterson who has two new books, Deadly Cross and The Last Days of John Lennon. You can order Patterson’s books here in the Web Store, https://bit.ly/3m1Xese, and The Sentinel here, https://bit.ly/3n2UFal.

Here’s the summary of the latest Alex Cross novel, Deadly Cross.

The murder of a glamorous DC socialite becomes Alex Cross’s deadliest case since Along Came a Spider.
Kay Willingham led a life as glamorous as it was public-she was a gorgeous Georgetown socialite, philanthropist, and the ex-wife of the vice president. So why was she parked in a Bentley convertible idling behind a DC private school, in the middle of the night, with the man who was the head of that school? Who shot them both, point blank, and why? The shocking double homicide is blazed across the internet, TV, newspapers — and across Alex Cross’s mind. Kay had been his patient once. And maybe more.

While John Sampson of DC Metro Police investigates the last movements of Christopher Randall, the educator killed along with Kay Willingham, detective Alex Cross and FBI special agent Ned Mahoney find unanswered questions from Willingham’s past, before she arrived in DC and became known in DC society as someone who could make things happen. They travel to Alabama to investigate Kay’s early years. There they find a world of trouble, corruption, and secrets, all of them closed to outsiders like Cross and Mahoney.

Kay had many enemies, but all of them seemed to need her alive. The harder the investigators push, the more resistance they find when they leave behind the polite law offices and doctors’ quarters of the state capital. Alex Cross will need to use all his skills as a doctor, a detective, and a family man to prevent that resistance from turning lethal…again.

*****

Patterson and Child talk history and music while talking about The Last Days of John Lennon.

The greatest true-crime story in music history, as only James Patterson can tell it.
 
With the Beatles, John Lennon surpasses his youthful dreams, achieving a level of superstardom that defies classification. “We were the best bloody band there was,” he says. “There was nobody to touch us.” Nobody except the original nowhere man, Mark David Chapman. Chapman once worshipped his idols from afar—but now harbors grudges against those, like Lennon, whom he feels betrayed him. He’s convinced Lennon has misled fans with his message of hope and peace. And Chapman’s not staying away any longer. 
 
By the summer of 1980, Lennon is recording new music for the first time in years, energized and ready for it to be “(Just Like) Starting Over.” He can’t wait to show the world what he will do. 
 
Neither can Chapman, who quits his security job and boards a flight to New York, a handgun and bullets stowed in his luggage. 
 
The greatest true-crime story in music history, as only James Patterson can tell it. Enriched by exclusive interviews with Lennon’s friends and associates, including Paul McCartney, The Last Days of John Lennon is the thrilling true story of two men who changed history: One whose indelible songs enliven our world to this day—and the other who ended the beautiful music with five pulls of a trigger.

*****

While Lee Child actually interviewed James Patterson, here’s the summary of The Sentinel as well.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “¢ Jack Reacher is back! The “utterly addictive” (The New York Times) series continues as acclaimed author Lee Child teams up with his brother, Andrew Child, fellow thriller writer extraordinaire.

“One of the many great things about Jack Reacher is that he’s larger than life while remaining relatable and believable. The Sentinel shows that two Childs are even better than one.”—James Patterson

As always, Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there. One morning he ends up in a town near Pleasantville, Tennessee.

But there’s nothing pleasant about the place.

In broad daylight Reacher spots a hapless soul walking into an ambush. “It was four against one” . . . so Reacher intervenes, with his own trademark brand of conflict resolution.

The man he saves is Rusty Rutherford, an unassuming IT manager, recently fired after a cyberattack locked up the town’s data, records, information . . . and secrets. Rutherford wants to stay put, look innocent, and clear his name.

Reacher is intrigued. There’s more to the story. The bad guys who jumped Rutherford are part of something serious and deadly, involving a conspiracy, a cover-up, and murder—all centered on a mousy little guy in a coffee-stained shirt who has no idea what he’s up against.

Rule one: if you don’t know the trouble you’re in, keep Reacher by your side.

*****

If you’re a fan of the authors, you’ll enjoy the event.

Upcoming Virtual Events

It’s time to check out the upcoming virtual events at The Poisoned Pen, while planning to buy books by your favorite authors. Check the schedule, and then the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here are the authors scheduled to appear for the rest of this week. Mark your calendars!

Berry & Wingate
K’Wan
Charles Todd
Historical Mystery Trio
Jungle Red Writers

Thrilling Sweden

Lars Kepler, the writing husband-and-wife team, made a recent appearance, virtually, for The Poisoned Pen. Their fifth Joona Linna thriller, Lazarus, is now available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2FpnIlX

Robert Anglen, award-winning investigative reporter for the Arizona Republic, interviewed the couple, saying they gave us a heck of a Christmas novel. I wouldn’t think of Lazarus that way, but I do think you can read this thriller without yet having read the earlier ones in the series. Afterwards, you’ll want to go back and pick up the others.

Here’s the summary of Lazarus.

“One of the best thrillers of the year! Kepler treats us readers to a nonstop roller coaster of suspense, taking us deep into the hearts and minds of perfectly realized characters. And, oh, what a villain! Lazarus is the definition of a one-sitting read!” —Jeffery Deaver, New York Times best-selling author of The Goodbye Man 

Sometimes the past won’t stay buried.

All across Europe, the most ruthless criminals are suffering gruesome deaths. At first, it seems coincidental that their underworld affiliations are finally catching up to them. But when two of the victims are found to have disturbing connections to Detective Joona Linna, it becomes clear that there’s a single killer at work. Still, police are reluctant to launch an investigation. If a mysterious vigilante is making their jobs easier, why stand in his way? Joona, however, is convinced this is no
would-be hero. These deaths serve a much darker purpose.

Desperate for help, Joona turns to Saga Bauer. If his hunch is correct, she’s one of the few people who stands a chance at bringing this criminal mastermind down. But Saga is fighting her own demons—and the killer knows just how to use them to his advantage. He continues to strike with impunity, and no one, it seems, is safe. When the killer begins targeting those closest to Saga and Joona, it appears more and more likely that Joona has been right all along, and that tracking down the person responsible will force him to confront a ghost from his past . . . the most terrifying villain he’s ever had to face.


Now, turn up your volume, and enjoy the virtual event with Lars Kepler.

In League with the Editors

Patrick Millikin recently introduced Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, and author/editors Laurie R. Kling and Leslie Klinger for a virtual event. King and Klinger appeared to talk about their most recent anthology in their Sherlock Holmes-inspired series of books. Signed copies of In League with Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/33MjfEQ

Here’s the summary of In League with Sherlock Holmes.

The latest entry in Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger’s popular Sherlock Holmes-inspired mystery series, featuring fifteen talented authors and a multitude of new cases for Arthur Conan Doyle’s most acclaimed detective.

Sherlock Holmes has not only captivated readers for more than a century and a quarter, he has fascinated writers as well. Almost immediately, the detective’s genius, mastery, and heroism became the standard by which other creators measured their creations, and the friendship between Holmes and Dr. Watson served as a brilliant model for those who followed Doyle. Not only did the Holmes tales influence the mystery genre but also tales of science-fiction, adventure, and the supernatural. It is little wonder, then, that when the renowned Sherlockians Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger invited their writer-friends and colleagues to be inspired by the Holmes canon, a cornucopia of stories sprang forth, with more than sixty of the greatest modern writers participating in four acclaimed anthologies.

Now, King and Klinger have invited another fifteen masters to become In League with Sherlock Holmes. The contributors to the pair’s next volume, due out in December 2020, include award-winning authors of horror, thrillers, mysteries, westerns, and science-fiction, all bound together in admiration and affection for the original stories. Past tales have spanned the Victorian era, World War I, World War II, the post-war era, and contemporary America and England. They have featured familiar figures from literature and history, children, master sleuths, official police, unassuming amateurs, unlikely protagonists, even ghosts and robots. Some were new tales about Holmes and Watson; others were about people from Holmes’s world or admirers of Holmes and his methods. The resulting stories are funny, haunting, thrilling, and surprising. All are unforgettable. The new collection promises more of the same!

*****

Enjoy the discussion!

Caz Frear, in Conversation

Patrick Millikin from the Poisoned Pen recently had the opportunity to host Caz Frear, author of Shed No Tears. He’s been handselling her first book, Sweet Little Lies. That book is in the Web Store, while you’ll have to wait a little, but will want to order the new book. https://bit.ly/2L5zgiJ Do pick up the first book. It introduces Cat Kinsella.

Cat is back in Shed No Tears, the third book in the series, following Stone Cold Heart.

Acclaimed and internationally bestselling crime novelist Caz Frear returns with her third superb novel featuring Cat Kinsella, a cop “on par with Susie Steiner’s and Tana French’s female detectives” (Kirkus Reviews).

Four victims. Killer caught. Case closed . . .  or is it? 

Growing up in a London family with ties to organized crime, Detective Constable Cat Kinsella knows the criminal world better than most cops do. As a member of the city’s Metropolitan Police, she’s made efforts to distinguish herself from her relatives. But leading an upstanding life isn’t always easy, and Cat has come close to crossing the line, a fact she keeps well hidden from her superiors.

Working their latest case, Cat and her partner Luigi Parnell discover a connection to a notorious criminal: serial killer Christopher Masters, who abducted and killed several women in 2012. Though the cops eventually apprehended him, his final victim, Holly Kemp, was never found and he never confessed to her murder, despite the solid eyewitness testimony against him. Now, six years later, the discovery of Holly’s remains near Cambridge seems to be the definitive proof needed to close the case.

Still, a few key items of evidence don’t quite line up. As Cat and Parnell look closer, they find discrepancies that raise troubling questions. But someone will do anything to keep past secrets hidden—and as they inch closer to the truth, they may be putting themselves in jeopardy . . . 

*****

Here’s the virtual event featuring Caz Frear.

A Holiday Quintet

You’ll have to catch it early today, 10 AM (noon, ET), but John Charles will be hosting a quintet of Kensington authors who will talk about their holiday mysteries. Don’t forget to look for their books in the Web Store! https://store.poisonedpen.com/

 A Kensington Quintet of Cozies  Saturday December 5, 10 AM (Noon ET) Watch the event on Facebook Live!   The Poisoned Pen Bookstore 4014 N Goldwater Blvd Scottsdale, AZ 85251

HOLIDAY MYSTERIES FROM KENSINGTON PUBLISHING


Coco, Nancy. Have Yourself a Fudgy Little Christmas ( $8.99). In Coco’s eighth Candy-Coated Mystery, Christmas on Mackinac Island brings a flurry of festive activity for fudge shop owner Allie McMurphy-but also a body in a snow bank. With fun recipes, cute pets, quirky characters, and an endearing young protagonist, the Candy-Coated Mysteries serve up the perfect holiday ingredients. 

Corrigan, Maya. Gingerdead Man ( $8.99). This holiday season Bayport, Maryland, is a dead ringer for Victorian London. Val and her grandfather are taking part in the Dickens of a Holiday festival. Val is hosting a private tea party serving the festival’s costumed volunteers, who range from Dickens divas like Madame Defarge and Miss Havisham to Ebenezer Scrooge and old St. Nick himself. But one costumed reveler may have gotten the holidays mixed up. The winner of the creepiest outfit, robed in black with a gift bag covering the head-okay, Ghost of Christmas Present, Val gets it-hands out gingerbread men with white icing skeleton bones. This year’s sour Santa has none of the big fellow’s mirth but plenty of his appetite, and it’s no secret Santa loves cookies. But when the man in red turns blue, Val and Granddad have a cookie-cutter killer to catch before the New Year…. Includes delicious five-ingredient recipes! 

Day, Maddie. Candy Slain Murder ( $8.99). Christmas cheer has sent the griddle into overdrive at Robbie Jordan’s popular country store and café. And this year, there’s a new seasonal special to feast on: murder… As December sweeps through South Lick, Indiana, Robbie’s life seems merry and bright like the string lights glistening around town. But strange happenings signal a bumpy ride into the holidays. First a man raises eyebrows at Pans ‘N Pancakes when he claiming to be the long-lost half-brother of Robbie’s assistant. Then a fire destroys the home of a controversial anesthesiologist, exposing skeletal remains in his attic. Helplessly intrigued, all Robbie wants for Christmas is to stop her winter wonderland from becoming a real nightmare. With a decades-old mystery taking shape, can she run as fast as she can in pursuit of a killer who’s harder to crack than a stale gingerbread man?

Ireland, Liz. Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings ($15.95). Set at the North Pole, this exceptional series launch from Ireland features such delightful characters as Old Charlie, a snowman; Blitzen, a reindeer descended from the Blitzen of “The Night Before Christmas” fame; and Jingles, the elf steward at frigid Castle Kringle. All of them are potential perps in the murder of Giblet Hollyberry, a notoriously unpleasant elf, but the chief suspect is Nick Claus, the acting Santa of Santaland. Constable Crinkles is soon on the case, along with detective Jake Frost, but it’s going to be up to April Claus, Nick’s wife, to clear her husband’s name. Rumors have circulated since the death of Nick’s older brother, Chris Claus, that Nick had something to do with it, because he coveted Chris’s job as Santa, and now an elf is dead. April has only a few days to find the killer before Christmas. Meanwhile, she must cope with the quirks of the extended Claus family. This fun, well-plotted mystery is the perfect holiday entertainment. 

*Redmond, Heather. A Christmas Carol Murder ($26). December, 1835. Nothing says Christmas like caroling outside the counting house of Emmanuel Screws, and nothing dampens the Christmas spirit like having a chained corpse fall from an overhead window to the ground before the eyes of Charles Dickens and his horrified fellow carolers. Soon after the killjoy is identified as Jacob Harley, Screws’ partner, his body inside its coffin vanishes from the custody of the undertaker Dawes. But that’s the least of Charles’ headaches. He’s already scrambling to disprove the allegation of serving maid Madge Porter that he fathered Timothy, the son of Madge’s late sister, Lizzie. Moved by the holiday spirit and simple humanity, Charles has taken up the infant and placed him with pregnant actress Julie Aga, the wife of his fellow journalist William Aga. His solicitude for the defenseless child is a distinctly bad look for his fiancée, Kate Hogarth, and a worse one for her father, George, who, as editor of the Morning Chronicle, holds a great deal of power over his employee’s future. When the prospective publisher of Sketches by Boz begins to back away from his contract, it seems the only thing that will redeem Dickens is proof that he’s not Timothy’s father. Oh, and solving what by now is a pair of murders as well.”-Kirkus Review

Thomas Perry in Conversation

Thomas Perry, author of Eddie’s Boy, answered an unusual question from Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen. Why does he skip around as he writes series, going from one to another? His answer? He was born with a short attention span. You’ll want to catch the entire virtual conversation. But, first, you’ll want to check out all of Perry’s books that are available through the Web Store, including signed copies of Eddie’s Boy, the latest book in the Butcher’s Boy series. https://bit.ly/2FdR5bs

Here’s Eddie’s Boy.

Michael Shaeffer is a retired American businessman, living peacefully in England with his aristocratic wife. But her annual summer party brings strangers to their house, and with them, an attempt on Michael’s life. He is immediately thrust into action, luring his lethal pursuers to Australia before venturing into the lion’s den—the States—to figure out why the mafia is after him again, and how to stop them.

Eddie’s Boy jumps between Michael’s current predicament and the past, between the skillset he now ruthlessly and successfully employs and the training that made him what he is. We glimpse the days before he became the Butcher’s Boy, the highly skilled hit man who pulled a slaughter job on some double-crossing clients and started a mob war, to his childhood spent apprenticed to Eddie, a seasoned hired assassin. And we watch him pit two prominent mafia families against each other to eliminate his enemies one by one.

He’s meticulous in his approach, using an old contact turned adversary in the Organized Crime Division of the Justice Department for information, without ever allowing her to get too close to his trail. But will he be able to escape this new wave of young contract killers, or will the years finally catch up to him?

Perry’s Edgar Award”“winning Butcher’s Boy returns in full force in this exhilarating new installment to the beloved series.

*****

Enjoy the virtual event with Thomas Perry.

Mysteries for Children

Let’s talk about mysteries for children. Why not? It’s the time of year to buy presents, and, if you’re a mystery reader yourself, you might have a young person in your life you can hook on the genre. It was a gift of a bag of books from an aunt that introduced me to the world of Gothic romances years ago, Phyllis A. Whitney, Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart.

Marthe Jocelyn, author of Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen, recently optioned for the screen, has a fascinating article about mysteries for children, and why you should introduce them to mysteries. The article is called, “6 Reasons to Hook Your Kid on Mysteries”. It’s available at CrimeReads, https://crimereads.com/6-reasons-to-hook-your-kid-on-mysteries/. Once you’ve read the article, you just might want to check the Web Store for some of those titles. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Don’t forget to look for Jocelyn’s Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Body Under the Piano.

A smart and charming middle-grade mystery series starring young detective Aggie Morton and her friend Hector, inspired by the imagined life of Agatha Christie as a child and her most popular creation, Hercule Poirot. For fans of Lemony Snicket and Enola Holmes.

Aggie Morton lives in a small town on the coast of England in 1902. Adventurous and imaginative but deeply shy, Aggie hasn’t got much to do since the death of her beloved father . . . until the fateful day when she crosses paths with twelve-year-old Belgian immigrant Hector Perot and discovers a dead body on the floor of the Mermaid Dance Room! As the number of suspects grows and the murder threatens to tear the town apart, Aggie and her new friend will need every tool at their disposal — including their insatiable curiosity, deductive skills and not a little help from their friends — to solve the case before Aggie’s beloved dance instructor is charged with a crime Aggie is sure she didn’t commit.

Filled with mystery, adventure, an unforgettable heroine and several helpings of tea and sweets, The Body Under the Piano is the clever debut of a new series for middle-grade readers and Christie and Poirot fans everywhere, from a Governor General’s Award–nominated author of historical fiction for children.

Booknews December 2020

What a long strange trip it’s been… 2020, that is.. Thanks to everyone for sticking in there with us as we navigate these strangest of days together. The December Booknews is packed with great new reads for everyone on your holiday list. Enjoy!

Click here to view the PDF!