Friday, April 12 is release day for Mark Bowden’s true crime book, The Last Stone. You can order it now through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2G31ggV Bowden was a cub reporter in Baltimore when the case started in 1975. All these years later, he can tell the ending.

Here’s the summary of The Last Stone: A Masterpiece of Criminal Interrogation.

On March 29, 1975, sisters Katherine and Sheila Lyons, age 10 and 12, vanished from a shopping mall in suburban Washington, D.C. As shock spread, then grief, a massive police effort found nothing. The investigation was shelved, and mystery endured. Then, in 2013, a cold case squad detective found something he and a generation of detectives had missed. It pointed them toward a man named Lloyd Welch, then serving time for child molestation in Delaware.

As a cub reporter for a Baltimore newspaper, Mark Bowden covered the frantic first weeks of the story. InThe Last Stone, he returns to write its ending. Over months of intense questioning and extensive investigation of Welch’s sprawling, sinister Appalachian clan, five skilled detectives learned to sift truth from determined lies. How do you get a compulsive liar with every reason in the world to lie to tell the truth?The Last Stone recounts a masterpiece of criminal interrogation, and delivers a chilling and unprecedented look inside a disturbing criminal mind.

*****

Are you hooked yet? For more background, check out Robert Kolker’s review of The Last Stone. It appears in The New York Times as “The Cracking of a Cold, Cold Case”. https://nyti.ms/2uEqQ6B

It might be a little late, but just a reminder that Anne Hillerman, author of the Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito novels, will be at The Poisoned Pen tonight, April 10 at 7 PM. Hillerman is on tour with her latest book, The Tale Teller. Copies of her books, including signed copies of The Tale Teller, are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2Vz7RpV

Here’s the summary of The Tale Teller.

Legendary Navajo policeman Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn takes center stage in this riveting atmospheric mystery from New York Times bestselling author Anne Hillerman that combines crime, superstition, and tradition and brings the desert Southwest vividly alive.

Joe Leaphorn may have retired from the Tribal Police, but he finds himself knee-deep in a perplexing case involving a priceless artifact—a reminder of a dark time in Navajo history. Joe’s been hired to find a missing biil, a traditional dress that had been donated to the Navajo Nation. His investigation takes a sinister turn when the leading suspect dies under mysterious circumstances and Leaphorn himself receives anonymous warnings to beware—witchcraft is afoot.

While the veteran detective is busy working to untangle his strange case, his former colleague Jim Chee and Officer Bernie Manuelito are collecting evidence they hope will lead to a cunning criminal behind a rash of burglaries. Their case takes a complicated turn when Bernie finds a body near a popular running trail. The situation grows more complicated when the death is ruled a homicide, and the Tribal cops are thrust into a turf battle because the murder involves the FBI. 

As Leaphorn, Chee, and Bernie draw closer to solving these crimes, their parallel investigations begin to merge . . . and offer an unexpected opportunity that opens a new chapter in Bernie’s life.

*****

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, shared Michael J. McCann’s review of The Tale Teller.

The Tale Teller: A Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito Novel by Anne Hillerman. Harper. April 9, 2019 ISBN 10: 006239195X

Native American, Cultural Heritage, Police Procedural

Reviewer: Michael J. McCann

“more than just a police procedural set in the Southwest, it’s a reading experience not to be missed. Anne Hillerman has reached a new level of storytelling . . .”

While recovering from a gunshot wound to the head, retired Navajo Tribal Police lieutenant Joe Leaphorn agrees to investigate a case for a friend of his companion, anthropologist Louisa Bourebonette. An anonymous donation to the Navajo Nation Museum has arrived missing two invaluable items: a silver bracelet, and a dress said to have been worn by Juanita, wife of legendary 19^th century Navajo chief Manuelito.

While Leaphorn investigates the disappearance of these items, Tribal Police officer Bernadette Manuelito is puzzled by an old man’s story of finding at a flea market an expensive silver and turquoise bolo tie that was stolen from his bedroom a month ago. Meanwhile her husband, Tribal Police officer Jim Chee, is investigating a string of burglaries around Chinle. Is there a possible connection?

When Bernie goes jogging, however, and discovers the body of a murder victim beside the path, the stakes become much higher. Are there dangerous forces loose in the Four Corners that could put their lives at risk? Will there be other victims if this rash of thefts goes unchecked?

The Tale Teller is the fifth novel in Anne Hillerman’s exemplary police procedural series set in the southwest United States. Her writing has moved to another level this time out, and a solid case could be made that it’s her best to date.

While her characters are familiar old friends to devoted readers, they once again appear in the pages of this new offering as rich and well-developed figures. An interesting wrinkle presents itself when Leaphorn’s head injury results in unexpected difficulties with spoken English. His initial reliance on Louisa while working the case in the field results in tensions between the two, and he struggles to make himself understood when interviewing unilingual English-speaking witnesses on his own. There’s a sense of relief, shared by the reader, when he can stick to Navajo.

Meanwhile, Bernie Manuelito continues to charm with her dogged seriousness and her unwavering devotion to Chee. When the narrator reminds us that while the FBI has jurisdiction over homicides Bernie has a “natural tendency to get involved,” we know she won’t rest until she understands exactly what happened to the murder victim she discovered. Her interactions with FBI special agent Sage Johnson, a much-improved secondary character, are both determined and amusing.

A staple of Hillerman procedurals is the use of multiple plot threads that come together “like weft and warp,” and the author again succeeds in launching Leaphorn, Bernie, and Chee in separate directions that ultimately overlap either in case details or in theme. Communication is always the key, and while Leaphorn still doesn’t particularly like Chee, Bernie functions once more as the adhesive that seems to bring everyone together.

While characterization and plot development are strengths, perhaps Anne Hillerman’s finest achievement in The Tale Teller is the manner in which she integrates the setting of the novel into her work.

When Chee jumps into his SUV to drive from Chinle to Canyon de Chelly, the narrator tells us that “Tséyi’, the place deep in the rocks, made his heart sing . . . No matter how many times he saw them, the canyon’s buttes, spires, and mesas never failed to move him to a state of peace.”

Even more striking is when Joe Leaphorn similarly responds to his surroundings. Unlike Chee, he has never been one for spiritualism on a personal level, and yet we find him driving his beat-up truck over Narbona Pass and lowering his window: “The cool air smelled of ponderosa pine and spruce, and he absorbed the calm.”

Hillerman’s ability to weave these descriptive details into the inner workings of her characters with such gentle grace has become a hallmark of her fiction. Readers inhale the pine and spruce along with Leaphorn, they feel the morning’s heat on the trail to the Spider Rock overlook, and when Chee looks out over the stunning landscape and simply “stood in the sun, happy to be alive,” the reader gratefully absorbs the calm and the peace along with him.

The Tale Teller is more than just a police procedural set in the Southwest, it’s a reading experience not to be missed. Anne Hillerman has reached a new level of storytelling in this one, and she deserves recognition as one of the finest mystery authors currently working in the genre.

Congratulations to the finalists for the 2019 ITW Thriller Awards. ITW will announce the winners at ThrillerFest XIV on July 13, 2019 at the Grand Hyatt, New York City.

Check the Web Store for availability, and signed copies of the nominated titles. https://store.poisonedpen.com

These are the nominees.

BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL

Lou Berney — NOVEMBER ROAD (William Morrow)
Julia Heaberlin — PAPER GHOSTS (Ballantine Books)
Jennifer Hillier — JAR OF HEARTS (Minotaur Books)
Karin Slaughter — PIECES OF HER (William Morrow)
Paul Tremblay — THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD (William Morrow)

BEST FIRST NOVEL

Jack Carr — THE TERMINAL LIST (Atria/Emily Bestler Books)
Karen Cleveland — NEED TO KNOW (Ballantine Books)
Ellison Cooper — CAGED (Minotaur Books)
Catherine Steadman — SOMETHING IN THE WATER (Ballantine Books)
C. J. Tudor — THE CHALK MAN (Crown)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL NOVEL

Jane Harper — THE LOST MAN (Pan Macmillan Australia)
John Marrs — THE GOOD SAMARITAN (Thomas & Mercer)
Andrew Mayne — THE NATURALIST (Thomas & Mercer)
Kirk Russell — GONE DARK (Thomas & Mercer)
Carter Wilson — MISTER TENDER’S GIRL (Sourcebooks Landmark)

BEST SHORT STORY

Jeffery Deaver — “The Victims’ Club” (Amazon Original Stories)
Emily Devenport — “10,432 Serial Killers (In Hell)” (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
Scott Loring Sanders — “Window to the Soul” (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
Helen Smith — “Nana” in KILLER WOMEN: CRIME CLUB ANTHOLOGY #2 (Killer Women Ltd.)
Duane Swierczynski — “Tough Guy Ballet” in FOR THE SAKE OF THE GAME: STORIES INSPIRED BY THE SHERLOCK HOLMES CANON (Pegasus Books)

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

Teri Bailey Black — GIRL AT THE GRAVE (Tor Teen)
Gillian French — THE LIES THEY TELL (HarperTeen)
Marie Lu — WARCROSS (Penguin Young Readers/G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers)
Dana Mele — PEOPLE LIKE US (Penguin Young Readers/G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers)
Peter Stone — THE PERFECT CANDIDATE (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)

BEST E-BOOK ORIGINAL NOVEL

Clare Chase — MURDER ON THE MARSHES (Bookouture)
Gary Grossman — EXECUTIVE FORCE (Diversion Books)
Samantha Hayes — THE REUNION (Bookouture)
T.S. Nichols — THE MEMORY DETECTIVE (Alibi)
Alan Orloff — PRAY FOR THE INNOCENT (Kindle Press)

*****

You’re seen and met a number of the nominees at The Poisoned Pen in the last year. Here’s just one of them, Jack Carr.

Special Event Janet Napolitano Tuesday May 28 7:00 PM Ticket Information Book is on sale now

Join former Governor and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for a discussion of her first book. It is in stock now giving you a chance to read it well before May 28 HOW SAFE ARE WE? HOMELAND SECURITY SINCE 9/11 An insightful analysis of American security at home and a prescription for the future  Tuesday May 28 Madison Performing Arts Center  5627 N 16th St Phoenix AZ 85016 Doors Open at 6 PM, Program 7 PM Buy TICKETS $32 with a Signed book, admits one $45 with a book admits one to the program plus a VIP signing line (limited to 100) If any proceeds remain from ticketing after event expenses they will go to the new Poisoned Pen Foundation, an official charity with a mission to support new writers through various programs Can’t attend? Order your signed copy in the usual way way but please do so early while supply lasts.

Dennis Palumbo is the author of the Dr. Daniel Rinaldi thrillers about Rinaldi, a psychologist and trauma expert. Palumbo himself is a writer and licensed psychotherapist. Palumbo’s website is www.dennispalumbo.com. Head Wounds, the latest book in the series, is available through the Web Store, as are the other thrillers. https://bit.ly/2UF9IMA

Here’s the description of Head Wounds.

Psychologist Dr. Daniel Rinaldi consults with the Pittsburgh Police. His specialty is treating victims of violent crime – those who’ve survived an armed robbery, kidnapping, or sexual assault, but whose traumatic experience still haunts them.  Head Wounds picks up where Rinaldi’s investigation in  Phantom Limb left off, turning the tables on him as he, himself, becomes the target of a vicious killer.

Miles Davis saved my life.” With these words Rinaldi becomes a participant in a domestic drama that blows up right outside his front door, saved from a bullet to the brain by pure chance. In the chaos that follows, Rinaldi learns his bad-girl, wealthy neighbor has told her hair-triggered boyfriend Rinaldi is her lover. As things heat up, Rinaldi becomes a murder suspect.

But this is just the first act in this chilling, edge-of-your-seat thriller. As one savagery follows another, Rinaldi is forced to relive a terrible night that haunts him still. And to realize that now he – and those he loves – are being victimized by a brilliant killer still in the grip of delusion. Determined to destroy Rinaldi by systematically targeting those close to him – his patients, colleagues, and friends – computer genius Sebastian Maddox strives to cause as much psychological pain as possible, before finally orchestrating a bold, macabre death for his quarry.

How ironic. As Pittsburgh morphs from a blue-collartown to a tech giant, a psychopath deploys technology in a murderous way.

Enter two other figures from Rinaldi’s past: retired FBI profiler Lyle Barnes, once a patient who Rinaldi treated for night terrors; and Special Agent Gloria Reese, with whom he falls into a surprising, erotically charged affair. Warned by Maddox not to engage the authorities or else random innocents throughout the city will die, Rinaldi and these two unlikely allies engage in a terrifying cat-and-mouse game with an elusive killer who’ll stop at nothing in pursuit of what he imagines is revenge.

A true page-turner,  Head Wounds is the electrifying fifth in a critically acclaimed series of thrillers by Dennis Palumbo. Formerly a Hollywood screenwriter, Dennis Palumbo is now a licensed psychotherapist in private practice.

*****

Dennis Palumbo recently appeared on Barry Kibrick’s PBS show, to discuss crime fiction. As Palumbo said, it’s “A recent TV interview I did about how good crime fiction both reflects and reveals the society in which it takes place. From Conan Doyle to Raymond Chandler to Gillian Flynn.” I think readers of crime fiction might be interested.

I wish this short Meet the Author video had been available before Deanna Raybourn appeared at The Poisoned Pen last month. But, it’s never too late to mention an author and her books. Raybourn is the author of the Veronica Speedwell mysteries. A Dangerous Collaboration is the most recent one. You can order copies of the books in this series, including a signed copy of A Dangerous Collaboration, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2BlRbLF

Here’s the summary of A Dangerous Collaboration.

A bride mysteriously disappears on her wedding day in the newest Veronica Speedwell adventure by the New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Julia Grey series.

Lured by the promise of a rare and elusive butterfly, the intrepid Veronica Speedwell is persuaded by Lord Templeton-Vane, the brother of her colleague Stoker, to pose as his fiancée at a house party on a Cornish isle owned by his oldest friend, Malcolm Romilly.

But Veronica soon learns that one question hangs over the party: What happened to Rosamund? Three years ago, Malcolm Romilly’s bride vanished on their wedding day, and no trace of her has ever been found. Now those who were closest to her have gathered, each a possible suspect in her disappearance. 

From the poison garden kept by Malcolm’s sister to the high towers of the family castle, the island’s atmosphere is full of shadows, and danger lurks around every corner. 

Determined to discover Rosamund’s fate, Veronica and Stoker match wits with a murderer who has already struck once and will not hesitate to kill again.…

*****

Here’s “Meet the Author – Deanna Raybourn”.

In case you missed the event at The Poisoned Pen, and would like to watch it, here’s the link to the program.

Although nowadays it’s difficult to say that an author’s last book is definitely the last one, with saved manuscripts and new authors writing added books in series, Metropolis is supposedly Philip Kerr’s final Bernie Gunther book. You can order a copy of Metropolis, or other books by Kerr, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2UCiw5O

Here’s the summary of Metropolis.

“The Bernie Gunther series is one of the great triumphs of modern noir, and it will be sorely missed.” —Booklist (starred review)

New York Times-bestselling author Philip Kerr treats readers to his beloved hero’s origins, exploring Bernie Gunther’s first weeks on Berlin’s Murder Squad.

Summer, 1928. Berlin, a city where nothing is verboten. 

In the night streets, political gangs wander, looking for fights. Daylight reveals a beleaguered populace barely recovering from the postwar inflation, often jobless, reeling from the reparations imposed by the victors. At central police HQ, the Murder Commission has its hands full. A killer is on the loose and though he scatters many clues, each is a dead end. It’s almost as if he is taunting the cops. Meanwhile, the press is having a field day. 

This is what Bernie Gunther finds on his first day with the Murder Commisson. He’s been taken on beacuse the people at the top have noticed him–they think he has the makings of a first-rate detective. But not just yet. Right now, he has to listen and learn. 

Metropolis, completed just before Philip Kerr’s untimely death, is the capstone of a fourteen-book journey through the life of Kerr’s signature character, Bernhard Genther, a sardonic and wisecracking homicide detective caught up in an increasingly Nazified Berlin police department. In many ways, it is Bernie’s origin story and, as Kerr’s last novel, it is also, alas, his end. 

Metropolis is also a tour of a city in chaos: of its seedy sideshows and sex clubs, of the underground gangs that run its rackets, and its bewildered citizens–the lost, the homeless, the abandoned. It is Berlin as it edges toward the new world order that Hitler will soo usher in. And Bernie? He’s a quick study and he’s learning a lot. Including, to his chagrin, that when push comes to shove, he isn’t much better than the gangsters in doing whatever her must to get what he wants.

*****

Kerr’s Metropolis is the lead title in Marilyn Stasio’s crime column in The New York Times this week. https://nyti.ms/2IdP7bE

If you’re interested, Philip Kerr appeared at The Poisoned Pen several years ago with John A. Connell. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen hosted them, and the event is available through Livestream. https://bit.ly/2uOnTR2

In Murder by the Book, Claire Harman examines the murder that caught the attention of literary London, and the aftereffects, including the abolishment of public executions. Murder by the Book is available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2CUMMyO

Here’s the description of the nonfiction title.

From the acclaimed biographer–the fascinating, little-known story of a Victorian-era murder that rocked literary London, leading Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, and Queen Victoria herself to wonder: Can a novel kill?

In May 1840, Lord William Russell, well known in London’s highest social circles, was found with his throat cut. The brutal murder had the whole city talking. The police suspected Russell’s valet, Courvoisier, but the evidence was weak. The missing clue, it turned out, lay in the unlikeliest place: what Courvoisier had been reading. In the years just before the murder, new printing methods had made books cheap and abundant, the novel form was on the rise, and suddenly everyone was reading. The best-selling titles were the most sensational true-crime stories. Even Dickens and Thackeray, both at the beginning of their careers, fell under the spell of these tales–Dickens publicly admiring them, Thackeray rejecting them. One such phenomenon was William Harrison Ainsworth’s Jack Sheppard, the story of an unrepentant criminal who escaped the gallows time and again. When Lord William’s murderer finally confessed his guilt, he would cite this novel in his defense. Murder By the Book combines this thrilling true-crime story with an illuminating account of the rise of the novel form and the battle for its early soul among the most famous writers of the time. It is superbly researched, vividly written, and captivating from first to last.

*****

If this book interests you, Heller McAlpin’s review in The Washington Post is worth reading. https://wapo.st/2UtrEK5

It’s always difficult to say goodbye to a beloved character. Betty Webb, author of the Lena Jones mysteries, provides answers in the final book in the series, Desert Redemption. You can order the series, including a signed copy of Desert Redemption, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2uhnpCs

Because it’s the last book, several people interviewed Webb about this book and the series. You’ll want to catch both articles. Michael Barson did a Q&A for Suspense Magazine. https://bit.ly/2UhrVk7

Elise Cooper interviewed Webb for Crimespree Magazine. https://bit.ly/2YK0pu0

Once again, here’s the description of Desert Redemption.

“In Jones’s electrifying 10th…Scottsdale, Arizona, PI Lena is approached by Harold Slow Horse, one of Arizona’s leading artists…[and] gets on a trail that leads her at long last to answers about her troubled past…” —Publishers Weekly

At the age of four, Scottsdale private eye Lena Jones was shot in the head and left to die on a Phoenix street. After her rescue, she spent years in the abusive foster care system, never knowing who her parents were and why they didn’t claim her. When Desert Redemption begins, she still doesn’t know her real name.

Lena’s rough childhood—and the suspicion that her parents may have been members of a cult—keeps her hackles raised. So when Chelsea, the ex-wife of Harold Slow Horse, a close friend, joins a “new thought” organization called Kanati, Lena begins to investigate. She soon learns that two communes—polar opposites of each other—have sprung up nearby in the Arizona desert. The participants at EarthWay follow a rigorous dietary regime that could threaten the health of its back-to-the-land inhabitants, while the more pleasure-loving folk at Kanati are dining on sumptuous French cuisine.

On an early morning horseback ride across the Pima Indian Reservation, Lena finds an emaciated woman’s body in the desert. “Reservation Woman” lies in a spot close to EarthWay, clad in a dress similar to the ones worn by its women. But there is something about her face that reminds Lena of the Kanatians.

While investigating, Lena’s memory is jolted back to that horrible night when her father and younger brother were among those murdered by a cult leader named Abraham, who then vanished. Lena begins to wonder if either EarthWay or Kanati could be linked to that night, and to her own near-death. Could leaders of one or both shed light on what had happened to Lena’s mother, who vanished at the same time as Abraham?

All these mysteries are resolved in Desert Redemption, the tenth and final Lena Jones case, which can also be enjoyed on its own.

Jane Stanton Hitchcock is the author of a recent Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen, Bluff. She brings a great deal of her own experience to this book. Signed copies of Bluff are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2CLp34b

You might be interested in reading John Valeri’s interview of Jane Stanton Hitchcock at CriminalElement.com. The Q&A will tell you a great deal about her background and the story itself. https://bit.ly/2UqcchH

If you would rather “meet” Jane Stanton Hitchcock at an event, check out her recent appearance at the store with Linda Fairstein, author of Blood Oath.