This must be the week to discuss spies. Author Charles McCarry, who was a CIA operative, may have been forgotten in recent years. However, the Associated Press referred to him as the “dean” or “poet laureate” of American spy writers. Most of his books, including the bestselling The Tears of Autumn, about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, have to be special ordered through the Web Store. However, readers who are curious can find some titles immediately available. https://bit.ly/2VFQTWC

Charles McCarry died Tuesday at the age of 88. The New York Times carried his obituary under the title “Charles McCarry, 88, Spy Turned Master Spy Novelist, Is Dead.” https://nyti.ms/2EEv0B6

They also carried a second article in the Arts section, “Charles McCarry, Prescient Spy Novelist, Dead at 88”. https://nyti.ms/2EGf69y

May he rest in peace.

The current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen is a nonfiction title, Matti Friedman’s Spies Of No Country. Friedman’s books, including signed copies of Spies of No Country, can be ordered through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2NGMboB

Here’s the description of Spies of No Country.

Award-winning writer Matti Friedman’s tale of Israel’s first spies has all the tropes of an espionage novel, including duplicity, betrayal, disguise, clandestine meetings, the bluff, and the double bluff–but it’s all true.

“The four spies at the center of this story were part of a ragtag unit known as the Arab Section, conceived during World War II by British spies and Jewish militia leaders in Palestine. Intended to gather intelligence and carry out sabotage and assassinations, the unit consisted of Jews who were native to the Arab world and could thus easily assume Arab identities. In 1948, with Israel’s existence in the balance during the War of Independence, our spies went undercover in Beirut, where they spent the next two years operating out of a kiosk, collecting intelligence, and sending messages back to Israel via a radio whose antenna was disguised as a clothesline. While performing their dangerous work these men were often unsure to whom they were reporting, and sometimes even who they’d become. Of the dozen spies in the Arab Section at the war’s outbreak, five were caught and executed. But in the end the Arab Section would emerge, improbably, as the nucleus of the Mossad, Israel’s vaunted intelligence agency.

Spies of No Country is about the slippery identities of these young spies, but it’s also about Israel’s own complicated and fascinating identity. Israel sees itself and presents itself as a Western nation, when in fact more than half the country has Middle Eastern roots and traditions, like the spies of this story. And, according to Friedman, that goes a long way toward explaining the life and politics of the country, and why it often baffles the West. For anyone interested in real-life spies and the paradoxes of the Middle East, Spies of No Country is an intimate story with global significance.”

Isabella Maldonado appears at The Poisoned Pen on Friday, March 8 at 7 PM. In preparation for the discussion of her latest book, Death Blow, featuring homicide detective Veranda Cruz, Maldonado’s character will be joining her for this interview. You can order copies of the series, including a signed copy of Death Blow, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2Vxff4A

*****

Isabella Maldonado, author of the Veranda Cruz mysteries, is my guest author today. The first in the series, Blood’s Echo, was the winner of the 2018 Mariposa Award for Best First Novel. It introduced Police Detective Veranda Cruz, who heads up an elite task force in the Phoenix Police Drug Enforcement Bureau. That’s important to know, because Veranda is going to interview Isabella today.

*****

DETECTIVE VERANDA CRUZ INTERVIEWS ISABELLA MALDONADO

ISABELLA: Why are we in an interview room at police headquarters? Am I under arrest?

VERANDA: Did I read you your rights? Are you handcuffed to the table?

I: No, but we could be doing this over a latte.

V: I don’t do lattes. I do interrogations. 

I: Let’s get to it then. What do you want to know?

V: Are you a sadist or something? Why do I go from one nightmare scenario to another? I’m lucky if I have a moment to get a bite to eat before the next disaster.

I: You manage to eat just fine. In fact, I keep hearing from people who want me to divulge your mother’s recipe for carne asada.

V: Don’t mess with mamá. She’ll hurt you. Her weapon of choice is guilt, which she uses freely on me.

I: People don’t want to hear about routine assignments. They want the good stuff. The exciting stuff. When I was on the job, people never asked what I had for lunch, they always asked about my most memorable cases.

V: Okay, so you were a cop. Are any of the things that happen to me based on real cases?

I: I do borrow scenarios from real life, but the characters and the specifics are fictitious. 

V: For example?

I: Do you remember the DC Beltway Sniper case?

V: Who doesn’t?

I: I was on the job in the DC Metro area at the time, and I’ll never forget the total panic throughout the entire region. Some parents kept their kids home from school, gas station owners put up massive tarps so people could fill their tanks without fear of getting shot, and media outlets sent correspondents from around the world to cover the story. Tension in the community and in law enforcement circles was higher than I’d ever seen it. I used that feeling as a backdrop for the events in the second book in the series, PHOENIX BURNING.

V: So you worked back east, but you write about the desert southwest. What’s up with that?

I: By the time I retired, I was sick of freezing cold winters and sticky humid summers. The desert made a refreshing change of pace. I fell in love with the southwest. As far as my writing goes, I decided not to feature my own department. Maybe I will down the road.

V: Wait, what? Does that mean you’re going to write about somebody besides me in the future?

I: Don’t worry, I won’t leave you hanging, but I do have other projects in mind going forward.

V: In all my stories (I call them my stories because I’m the one getting shot at) there’s a fair amount 

of forensic science. My most recent case, which you wrote about in DEATH BLOW, genetics and DNA are important. How did you learn about that stuff?

I: When I retired, I was a captain. My last position was Commander of Special Investigations and Forensics, so I had some background in that area. I don’t pretend to be a scientist, so I did a lot of research and interviewed the director of a forensic lab to be sure I got my facts straight. Turns out the science has progressed since I retired. 

V: So you research a lot?

I: Absolutely. In the first book, BLOOD’S ECHO, I interviewed an arson investigator to be sure the facts about fire investigations were accurate.

V: Don’t talk to me about arson investigators, that’s a sore subject. I finally get to meet a hunky fireman—who somehow isn’t scared off by my mother’s not-so-subtle matchmaking—and you just can’t leave well enough alone, can you? My poor mother is afraid I’ll never settle down.

I: Don’t you think you have enough going on without worrying about changing dirty diapers right now anyway?

V: Yeah. Thanks to you, I seem to keep stepping in the stuff that normally ends up in a diaper.

I: See, that’s exactly the kind of remark that gets you in trouble. Frankly, you could use more supervision.

V: Seriously? Lieutenant Diaz is all over me. He writes me up, suspends me from duty, and threatens to take my badge about every two weeks on general principle.

I: As a former captain, I can’t blame him. Unlike you, Lieutenant Diaz follows orders. If you both worked under my command, I’d have to support him.

V: Typical brass. Always sticking together.

I: You’re an excellent detective, Veranda, but not so great at sticking to procedure. Running headlong into trouble could get you killed one of these days.

V: Is that a threat, captain?

I: Take it as you wish…

*****

Death Blow is scheduled for release on March 8. Here’s the summary of the book.

Homicide detective Veranda Cruz takes on the most ruthless member of the Villalobos cartel in this fast-paced follow up to Phoenix Burning  

Phoenix homicide detective Veranda Cruz is on a mission. After Hector Villalobos tried to destroy her family, Veranda vowed to take down his powerful crime family. Beautiful, shrewd, and lethal, Daria Villalobos is on a mission of her own. Determined to be the first woman to take the reins of her father’s notorious cartel, she hatches a plot to eliminate Veranda, framing a rival to take the fall.  

When the investigation blows up in Veranda’s face, the hunt is on to stop the bomber. Now she must battle her department and her personal demons as she takes on Daria. To survive her most cunning adversary yet, will she make a pact with a killer? 

*****

Thank you, Isabella. Here’s Isabella Maldonado’s biography.

Isabella Maldonado is an award-winning author, retired police captain, and regular contributor on News Channel 12 (Phoenix NBC affiliate) as a law enforcement expert. Her last police position was Commander of Special Investigations and Forensics. During her career, she was a hostage negotiator, department spokesperson, and precinct commander prior to attending executive management training at the FBI National Academy in Quantico. The first Latina to attain the rank of captain on her department, she received Meritorious Service and Lifesaving Awards. Isabella is a past president of the Phoenix Metro chapter of Sisters in Crime. She lives in the greater Phoenix area, where she writes the Det. Cruz mystery series. Her debut novel, BLOOD’S ECHO, won the 2018 Mariposa Award for Best First Book. The second in the series, PHOENIX BURNING, received a starred review in Publishers Weekly and was named one of the best suspense books of 2018 by Book Riot. The third installment, DEATH BLOW, will be published on March 8, 2019 and is available for pre-order now.

In 2016, Sulari Gentill was “In the Hot Seat” on this blog. To this day, she gave one of my favorite answers to an interview question, where would you take visitors who came to Australia. You can find that interview here. https://bit.ly/2TvZrBI

Gentill has gone on to receive the recognition she deserves for her writing. Last year, she won the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Novel for Crossing the Lines. Now, her sixth Rowland Sinclair novel, A Murder Unmentioned, is available. You can order it, and her other novels, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2DdMLE1

Here’s the summary of A Murder Unmentioned.

The gun used in Rowland Sinclair’s father’s death some thirteen years earlier has turned up in a drained dam at the family’s country homestead in Yass. And when Rowland offends right-wing New Guard leader Eric Campbell, Campbell uses his influence to set the police to renew their inquiries into Henry Sinclair’s death.

Henry’s friends had all been led to believe that the wealthy landowner had died in a much more respectable way. Rowland and his elder brother, Wil, had avoided any discussion of the event ever since—in fact the whole family had ducked the issue for over a decade, keeping secret that Sinclair senior was murdered. The possible involvement of the teenage Rowly and his older brother’s intervention has been under the radar as well.

But now the finger of blame is pointing squarely at the Sinclair black sheep, a man careless of what society and the authorities think of him. So he and the trio of artist friends who live in his Sydney suburban mansion, and generally have his back, avail themselves of a racing green Gypsy Moth (Rowland is a pioneer in air travel) and a yellow Mercedes sports car (another frightening mode of transport) to arrive in New South Wales’ Southern Tablelands, bent on clearing Rowly’s name.

With cameo appearances from historical figures—Bob Menzies in the Sinclair kitchen, Edna Walling in the garden, and Kate Leigh grinning lasciviously at Rowly in a jailhouse crowd—and a real sense of fun contrasting with the quite genuine tension, this is historical crime for those in the know and those who can barely remember what happened last weekend, a story of family secrets and fraternal loyalty. Despite the humor, the Rowland Sinclair Mysteries take a deadly serious look at the 1930s, reflecting our own tumultuous times.

*****

Why bring up Sulari Gentill’s A Murder Unmentioned now? Jessica Howard just reviewed the book for Shelf Awareness for Readers, if you’d like to read the review. https://bit.ly/2TaI3TR

“Greg Iles is back and at the top of his game.” That’s a quote from Bill Sheehan in The Washington Post. Greg Iles will also be at The Poisoned Pen on Tuesday, March 19 at 7 PM. You can pre-order a signed copy of his new book, Cemetery Road, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2XvH3Im

Sheehan also said, “In the precision and power of its language and its sheer amplitude of detail, Iles’s latest calls to mind the late, great Southern novelist Pat Conroy. Like Conroy, Iles writes with passion, intensity and an absolute commitment to the material at hand. The success of his recent Natchez Burning trilogy was clearly no fluke.” You can read Sheehan’s entire review here. https://wapo.st/2XvHa6K

Sheehan summarizes Cemetery Road in his review, but, in case you don’t read the article, here’s the description from the Web Store.

Sometimes the price of justice is a good man’s soul.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Natchez Burning trilogy returns with an electrifying tale of friendship, betrayal, and shattering secrets that threaten to destroy a small Mississippi town.

“[A] compulsively readable thriller… Iles once again delivers a sweeping tale of family dysfunction, sexually charged secrets, and the power of wealth, with an overlay of violence and Southern sensibility.”
   — Publishers Weekly(starred review)

When Marshall McEwan left his Mississippi hometown at eighteen, he vowed never to return. The trauma that drove him away spurred him to become one of the most successful journalists in Washington, DC. But as the ascendancy of a chaotic administration lifts him from print fame to television stardom, Marshall discovers that his father is terminally ill, and he must return home to face the unfinished business of his past.

On arrival, he finds Bienville, Mississippi very much changed.  His family’s 150-year-old newspaper is failing; and Jet Turner, the love of his youth, has married into the family of Max Matheson, one of a dozen powerful patriarchs who rule the town through the exclusive Bienville Poker Club.  To Marshall’s surprise, the Poker Club has taken a town on the brink of extinction and offered it salvation, in the form of a billion-dollar Chinese paper mill.  But on the verge of the deal being consummated, two murders rock Bienville to its core, threatening far more than the city’s economic future.

An experienced journalist, Marshall has seen firsthand how the corrosive power of money and politics can sabotage investigations. Joining forces with his former lover—who through her husband has access to the secrets of the Poker Club—Marshall begins digging for the truth behind those murders.  But he and Jet soon discover that the soil of Mississippi is a minefield where explosive secrets can destroy far more than injustice.  The South is a land where everyone hides truths: of blood and children, of love and shame, of hate and murder—of damnation and redemption.  The Poker Club’s secret reaches all the way to Washington, D.C., and could shake the foundations of the U.S. Senate.  But by the time Marshall grasps the long-buried truth about his own history, he would give almost anything not to have to face it.

You’re probably wondering why everyone is talking about Don Winslow’s final book in his Cartel trilogy, The Border. He was just at The Poisoned Pen, in conversation with two men who understand why there’s so much buzz. You can watch the conversation with Winslow, Robert Anglen from The Arizona Republic, and Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen. You can also order a signed copy of The Border through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2NA36JF

Here’s the conversation.

And, I’m going to quote Don Winslow from his Twitter account. He showed a picture from the event at The Poisoned Pen. But, it was his comment that is so important.

“Dear Writers, A packed house @poisonedpen Monday night. I’m posting this photo to tell you that when I came here for my first book, A Cool Breeze on the Underground, 1 person showed up. The owner, the great Barbara Peters, bought the ONLY copy I sold that night Never give up!”

Great minds think alike. Just as I was planning to post the March author events at The Poisoned Pen, I received the schedule of events in my email. However, it’s possible you don’t all subscribe to the email. If you live in Arizona, you might want to plan your trips to the bookstore to meet some of your favorite authors. If you purchase signed books, you might want to check out this listing. You can pre-order signed copies through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com

So, here’s the schedule of author appearances for March. Unless noted, all appearances will be at The Poisoned Pen at 7 PM.

MARCH SCHEDULE:

03/02 (Sat) 2pm Brenda Novak signs Unforgettable You. (Mira $7.99) Silver Springs #5.

03/04 (Mon) Phillip Margolin signs The Perfect Alibi.(St Martins $27.99) Our March Surprise Me! Book of the Month. Harriet Tyce signs Blood Orange. (Grand Central $26) March First Mystery Book of the Month.

03/06 (Wed) Steve Berry signs The Malta Exchange.(St Martins $28.99)
Cotton Malone #14. Our copies come with a collectible created and signed by Berry.

03/08 (Fri) Isabella Maldonado signs Death Blow. (Midnight Ink $15.99) Veranda Cruz police procedural #3.

03/11 (Mon) 7pm CJ Box signs Wolf Pack. (Putnam $27) Joe Pickett #19.Our copies come with art that CJ Box describes as “having a nice creepy feel to it and has always been one of my favorites.” Where: Kerr Cultural Center, 6110 N Scottsdale Rd 85253 (enter via Rose Lane, take first left to the Kerr).

03/13 (Wed) Deanna Raybourn signs A Dangerous Collaboration. (Berkley $26) Victorian Veronica Speedwell #4.

03/14 (Thurs) Betty Webb signs Desert Redemption. (Poisoned Pen $26.99) 10^th and final Lena Jones mystery.

03/16 (Sat) 2pm Glen Erik Hamilton signs Mercy River. (Harper $26.99) Van Shaw. Brad Parks signs The Last Act. (Dutton $26.95).

03/18 (Mon) William Kent Krueger hosts John McMahon. Krueger signs Desolation Mountain. (Atria $26). McMahon signs The Good Detective. (Putnam $27) Debut set in Georgia.

03/19 (Tues) Greg Iles signs Cemetery Road. (Harper $28.99).

03/20 (Wed) 7pm The Janet Cussler Car Collection. Clive and Dirk Cussler sign Celtic Empire.(Putnam $29) Dirk Pitt #25. Where: 16055 North Dial Boulevard, Suite 16, Scottsdale 85260.

03/21 (Thurs) Joe R. Lansdale signs The Elephant of Surprise.(LittleBrown $26) Hap & Leonard.

03/22 (Fri) Lisa See signs The Island of Sea Women. (Scribner $27).

03/26 (Tues) Jacqueline Winspear signs The American Agent. (Harper $27.99) and What Would Maisie Do? ($17.99) An illustrated companion to the Maisie Dobbs mysteries.

03/27 (Wed) Linda Fairstein signs Blood Oath. (Dutton $28) Alexandra Cooper #25. Jane Stanton Hitchcock signs Bluff. (Poisoned Pen $26.99) Our April Thriller Club Pick.

04/03 (Wed) JA Jance signs The A List. (Gallery $27.99) Ali Reynolds #14.

Patrick King from The Poisoned Pen’s staff mentions this in the video. Sometimes, people tend to think of The Poisoned Pen as only a mystery bookstore. It’s actually an independent bookstore that brings in authors representing a variety of genres, and nonfiction as well. Darynda Jones, author of the Grim Reaper paranormal books featuring Charley Davidson, appeared at the store recently. She just wrapped up her series with Summoned to Thirteenth Grave. You can get copies of Jones’ books, including signed copies of Summoned to Thirteenth Grave, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2H55kj0

Here’s the summary of Summoned to Thirteenth Grave.

New York Times BESTSELLER (January 2019)

Grim Reaper Charley Davidson is back in the final installment of Darynda Jones’ New York Times bestselling paranormal series–Summoned to Thirteenth Grave. 

Charley Davidson, Grim Reaper extraordinaire, is pissed. She’s been kicked off the earthly plane for eternity—which is exactly the amount of time it takes to make a person stark raving mad. But someone’s looking out for her, and she’s allowed to return after a mere hundred years in exile. Is it too much to hope for that not much has changed? Apparently it is. Bummer. 

She’s missed her daughter. She’s missed Reyes. She’s missed Cookie and Garrett and Uncle Bob. Now that she’s back on earth, it’s time to put to rest burning questions that need answers. What happened to her mother? How did she really die? Who killed her? And are cupcakes or coffee the best medicine for a broken heart? It all comes to a head in an epic showdown between good and evil in this final smart and hilarious novel.

*****

Here’s Patrick King in conversation with Darynda Jones.

Don Winslow’s culmination of his Cartel trilogy, The Border, is not only the Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen, but it’s hot all over the country. You’ll want to order a signed copy through the Web Store while copies are still available. https://bit.ly/2SZebcR

Once again, here’s the description of The Border.

ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF THE YEAR

“A big, sprawling, ultimately stunning crime tableau.” ““ Janet Maslin, New York Times

“You can’t ask for more emotionally moving entertainment.” ““ Stephen King

“One of the best thriller writers on the planet.” ““ Esquire

The explosive, highly anticipated conclusion to the epic Cartel trilogy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Force

What do you do when there are no borders? When the lines you thought existed simply vanish?  How do you plant your feet to make a stand when you no longer know what side you’re on?

The war has come home.

For over forty years, Art Keller has been on the front lines of America’s longest conflict: The War on Drugs. His obsession to defeat the world’s most powerful, wealthy, and lethal kingpin”•the godfather of the Sinaloa Cartel, Adán Barrera”•has left him bloody and scarred, cost him the people he loves, even taken a piece of his soul.

Now Keller is elevated to the highest ranks of the DEA, only to find that in destroying one monster he has created thirty more that are wreaking even more chaos and suffering in his beloved Mexico. But not just there.

Barrera’s final legacy is the heroin epidemic scourging America. Throwing himself into the gap to stem the deadly flow, Keller finds himself surrounded by enemies”•men who want to kill him, politicians who want to destroy him, and worse, the unimaginable”•an incoming administration that’s in bed with the very drug traffickers that Keller is trying to bring down.

Art Keller is at war with not only the cartels, but with his own government. And the long fight has taught him more than he ever imagined. Now, he learns the final lesson”•there are no borders.

In a story that moves from deserts south of the border to Wall Street, from the slums of Guatemala to the marbled corridors of Washington, D.C., Winslow follows a new generation of narcos, the cops who fight them, the street traffickers, the addicts, the politicians, money-launderers, real-estate moguls, and mere children fleeing the violence for the chance of a life in a new country.

A shattering tale of vengeance, violence, corruption and justice, this last novel in Don Winslow’s magnificent, award-winning, internationally bestselling trilogy is packed with unforgettable, drawn-from-the-headlines scenes. Shocking in its brutality, raw in its humanity, The Border is an unflinching portrait of modern America, a story of—and for—our time.

*****

Here’s Bill Sheehan’s review of The Border in The Washington Post. https://wapo.st/2ExqGnl

Here’s Janet Maslin’s review in The New York Times. https://nyti.ms/2V4NXSP