Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Gregg Hurwitz, author of the Orphan X series. The latest book is Nemesis. There are signed copies of the book available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/41djQO1.

Here’s the description of Nemesis.

No greater friend. No deadlier enemy.

The explosive new novel in the New York Times bestselling Orphan X series is flipping the acclaimed series on its head. Find out why series superfans and new readers alike are calling it a “knockout” (firstCLUE).

Evan Smoak is a highly trained former government assassin who has survived for years by keeping his circle to a few trusted confidants and a strict code he calls “The Ten Commandments.” But when Evan suddenly finds himself at odds with his oldest friend, all the rules he lives by shatter—and the consequences are murderous.

Tommy Stojack might be Evan’s best friend in the world. He’s a gifted gunsmith who has created much of Evan’s own weapons and combat gear. But now, he has apparently crossed one of Evan’s hardest lines and their argument explodes into open warfare. Now Evan has no choice but to track and face down his only friend.

In the meantime, Tommy has left town in order to honor his own promise to help a dead friend’s son. While Tommy is fighting to save the son with everything he’s got, Evan arrives with vengeance in mind.

But as deadly as the former Orphan X is, there is an even more dangerous threat about to arrive on the scene. The only question left is will any of them get out alive.

---

GREGG HURWITZ is the author of the New York Times bestselling Orphan X novels. Critically acclaimed, his novels have been international bestsellers, graced top ten lists, and have been published in thirty-two languages. Additionally, he’s sold scripts to many of the major studios, and written, developed, and produced television for various networks. Hurwitz lives in Los Angeles.

---

You’ll want to enjoy the conversation with Gregg Hurwitz. But, if you don’t have much time, at least check out the beginning of the video to see Hurwitz’ jacket.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed Steve Berry for a virtual event. Berry brings back his series hero, Cotton Malone, in The Medici Return. There are still a few signed copies of the book available through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/42UbUTd.

Here’s the description of The Medici Return.

From celebrated New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry comes the latest installment in his wildly popular Cotton Malone series—now in development as a streaming series. The Medici Return takes Cotton to Italy to solve a five hundred year-old mystery.  

Cotton Malone is on the hunt for a forgotten 16th century Pledge of Christ—a sworn promise made by Pope Julius II that evidences a monetary debt owed by the Vatican, still valid after five centuries—now worth in the trillions of dollars.  But collecting that debt centers around what happened to the famed Medici of Florence—a family that history says died out, without heirs, centuries ago. 

Who will become the next prime minister of Italy, and who will be the next pope? Finding answers proves difficult until Cotton realizes that everything hinges on when, and if, the Medici return.

---

Steve Berry is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of nineteen Cotton Malone novels, five stand-alone thrillers, two Luke Daniels adventures, and several works of short fiction. He has over twenty-six million books in print, translated into forty-one languages. With his wife, Elizabeth, he is the founder of History Matters, an organization dedicated to historical preservation. He serves as an emeritus member of the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board and was a founding member of International Thriller Writers, formerly serving as its co-president.

---

Enjoy the conversation with Steve Berry.

Book critic Oline Cogdill recently reviewed James L’Etoile’s River of Lies for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, and shared the review with us. You can find signed copies through The Poisoned Pen’s Webstore. https://bit.ly/4jXvlR1

Book review: Homeless camps burn and politics simmers in ‘River of Lies’

‘River of Lies’ by James L’Etoile. Oceanview Publishing, 384 pages, $18.99 

The politics of homelessness — from those who resent housing for the displaced in their neighborhood to developers who see that land as prime real estate — flows throughout “River of Lies,” the second novel in James L’Etoile’s new series about Sacramento police Detective Emily Hunter.

L’Etoile delivers a tightly packed police procedural with a strong current of believable action balanced by a close look at the personal lives of his characters.

Several homeless camps stretch out throughout Sacramento, a controversial situation throughout the city as residents complain about them. But lately arsonists have attacked three camps within a two-week period, destroying the meager possessions of the homeless, “the city’s forgotten shadows.”

The attacks have been exacerbated with many homeless physically attacked. Two men are murdered following arson at a major camp near the river that has more than 200 residents. But the victims are not the homeless — one is the former anti-homeless mayor, the other a social worker.

The investigation falls to Emily and her partner, Javier Medina, both of whom are immediately suspicious of who is behind the fires. The city orders the camp debris cleared, ruining the crime scene, then developers swoop in.

L’Etoile’s attention to the detectives’ personal lives adds context to “River of Lies.” As the police detectives continue their investigation, Emily is drawn to the plight of 8-year-old Willow, whose mother was injured during the attack by the arsonists. Emily also is dealing with trying to keep her mother safe as her mental health declines. The handsome Javier’s problem with his mother is different — she’s always trying to fix him up with a new woman; this time she might be right.

“River of Lies” takes readers through various Sacramento neighborhoods, focusing on the wealthy and the ordinary residents who make up the city. L’Etoile’s 2024 novel “Face of Greed” introduced Emily and her squad; this series should be around for quite a while.

Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen recently had the chance to talk with one of his favorite authors, Walter Mosley. Mosley’s latest PI Joe King Oliver novel is Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right. There are signed copies still available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4gCVSjU

Here’s the description of Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right.

In the latest from “mystery master” Walter Mosley, a family member’s terminal illness leads P.I. Joe King Oliver to the investigation of his life: tracking down his long-lost father, and meanwhile, a new case pits King’s professional responsibility against his own moral code. (TheWashington Post)

Joe King Oliver’s beloved Grandma B has found a tumor, and at her age, treatment is high-risk. She’s lived life fully and without regrets, and now has only a single, dying wish: to see her long-lost son. King has been estranged from his father, Chief Odin Oliver, since he was a young boy. He swore to never speak to the man again when he was taken away in handcuffs. But now, Grandma B’s pure ask has opened King’s heart, and through his hunt, he gains a deeper understanding of his father as a complicated, righteous man—a man defined by women, a man protected by women, a man he wants to know. Although Chief was released from prison years ago, he’s been living underground ever since. Now, King must not only find his father, but prove his innocence, and protect the future of his entire family.

Simultaneously, King finds himself in a moral bind. Marigold Hart, the wife of a powerful Californian billionaire, has gone missing, along with their seven-year-old daughter. Orr is brutish and dangerous, and King realizes after locating her that it’s in her best interest to stay hidden. But are his motives pure? There is something magnetic about Marigold; he can’t help but want her near.  

In the latest installment in the Joe King Oliver series, no good deed goes unpunished. Emotionally stirring, pulse-pounding, and undeniably sexy, Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right shows Walter Mosley at his best.

---

WALTER MOSLEY is one of America’s most celebrated writers. He was given the 2020 National Book Award’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, named a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America, and honored with the Anisfield-Wolf Award, a Grammy, a PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award, the Robert Kirsch Award, numerous Edgars, and several NAACP Image Awards. His work is translated into 25 languages.  He has published fiction and nonfiction in The New Yorker, Playboy, and The Nation. As an executive producer, he adapted his novel, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, for AppleTV+ and serves as a writer and executive producer for FX’s “Snowfall.”

---

Enjoy the conversation with Walter Mosley.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Robert Dugoni and Jeff Langholz to the bookstore to discuss Hold Strong. You can still order signed copies of the novel. https://bit.ly/4hswej7.

Here’s the summary of Hold Strong.

From Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, and Chris Crabtree comes an epic and inspiring novel—based on true events—about love, heroism, and resilience during the darkest chapters of World War II.

Sam Carlson is a projectionist in small-town Minnesota, where fantasies unspool in glorious black and white—for him and for his sweetheart, college-bound math whiz Sarah Haber. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Sam is sent to the Philippines and captured as a POW. Brutalized but unbroken by the Bataan Death March and POW camps, Sam is one of eighteen hundred starved and weakened prisoners herded into the cargo hold of a barbaric hell ship called the Arisan Maru, his survival doubtful.

Determined to use her math skills on the home front, Sarah is recruited to Washington, DC, into the covert field of code breaking. When Sarah intercepts a message about a Japanese convoy, the US Navy’s mission is clear: sink the Arisan Maru and send it to the bottom of the South China Sea. Now, the lives of the two young lovers are about to inadvertently collide in one of the most shocking acts of World War II.

Anchored in an extraordinary true story and breathlessly re-created, Hold Strong is a one-of-a-kind novel that explores faith, courage, survival, and coming home against insurmountable odds.

---

Robert Dugoni is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Amazon Charts bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite series; the Charles Jenkins series; the David Sloane series; several standalone novels, including A Killing on the Hill, The World Played Chess, and The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell; and coauthor of the nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. Dugoni is the recipient of the Nancy Pearl Book Award for fiction, a multi-time winner of the Friends of Mystery Spotted Owl Award for best novel set in the Pacific Northwest, and a finalist for many other awards. His books are sold in more than twenty-five countries, have been translated into more than thirty languages, and have reached millions of readers worldwide. For more information, visit robertdugonibooks.com.

Jeff Langholz, PhD, is an award-winning teacher, researcher, entrepreneur, and writer whose work has appeared in more than 250 media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, National Geographic, and the Economist. His adventures span five continents and include stints as a rice farmer in West Africa with the Peace Corps, a Fulbright Scholar in South Africa, a salmon fisherman in Alaska, a tree farmer in Central America, and a mediator in New York. He lives along Monterey Bay in California.

Chris Crabtree teaches middle and high school English language arts and literature at Costa Rica International Academy in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Chris and his wife, Vera, live in a rustic, rural town on the outskirts of Santa Cruz, Costa Rica, with their dogs Bety and Bruno.

---

Enjoy the conversation with Robert Dugoni and Jeff Langholz.

Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen recently welcomed Christopher Farnsworth to the bookstore. Farnsworth’s new book is the latest Jesse Stone mystery, Robert B. Parker’s Buried Secrets. There are signed copies of the book available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/42Hx7zI

Here is the description of Robert B. Parker’s Buried Secrets.

Police Chief Jesse Stone investigates the mystery behind a dead body found strewn with photos of murder victims and placed on top of $2 million in cash, before a mob of hit men converge on Paradise.

Just another day in Paradise . . . 

Chief of Police Jesse Stone is on his way home from a long shift when a call comes in for a welfare check on an elderly resident of the wealthy seaside town of Paradise, Massachusetts. Inside a house packed with junk and trash is a man’s dead body. It’s a sad, lonely end, but nothing criminal . . . until Jesse finds the photos of murder victims strewn around the corpse, on top of a treasure trove of $2 million in cash.

Jesse takes on the case and finds a trail leading to an aging mobster who will do whatever it takes to keep the past from coming to light. Before long, Jesse has a price on his head as hit men converge on Paradise to take back the cash and destroy any remaining evidence. But the real danger might be coming from inside his own department. Jesse Stone must unearth the truth buried under the wreckage of a dead man’s life . . . before he winds up in the ground himself.

---

Robert B. Parker was the author of seventy books, including the legendary Spenser detective series, the novels featuring Chief Jesse Stone, and the acclaimed Virgil Cole/Everett Hitch westerns, as well as the Sunny Randall novels. Winner of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award and long considered the undisputed dean of American crime fiction, he died in January 2010.

Christopher Farnsworth worked as a reporter in Arizona and California before selling his first screenplay. He now pens successful crime and thriller novels. His books have been published in a dozen countries, and translated into ten languages, and optioned for film and television. A loyal reader of Robert B. Parker since his high school days, Farnsworth currently resides in Los Angeles with his family.

---

Enjoy the conversation with Christopher Farnsworth.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently spoke with Kevin Wade about his debut novel, Johnny Careless. Not only are we sharing that conversation, but we have some coverage from Celadon Books Newsletter. First, there are still signed copies of Johnny Careless available through the Webstore. http://bit.ly/4aC8S82

Here’s the note from Celadon Books Newsletter.

“Kevin Wade knows how to craft a killer tale — he’s a veteran screenwriter and the showrunner of the hit police procedural series Blue Bloods. With his new novel, Wade delivers a first-rate crime narrative that’s “fresh and wildly entertaining, [with] characters so real you expect them to walk through the door” (Patricia Cornwell, New York Times bestselling author). Johnny Careless focuses on the mysterious murder of Johnny Chambliss, a privileged man nicknamed “Johnny Careless” for his reckless approach to life. When Johnny’s corpse is found in the Bayville waters off Long Island’s North Shore, Jeep Mullane — Chambliss’s childhood friend and the local police chief — plunges into the case. Johnny’s rich, cagey relatives and perplexing ex-wife make the investigation harder than it should be. And since Jeep grew up modestly in an area of staggering wealth, his search for the truth is just as much a story about the haves and have-nots as it is a thrilling murder mystery.”

---

The description of Johnny Careless is below.

“A fast-moving classic crime novel” (John Sandford) crafted by the veteran screenwriter and showrunner for the acclaimed police procedural series Blue Bloods, Johnny Careless is Kevin Wade’s razor-sharp debut novel.

Police Chief Jeep Mullane has been bounced back home to Long Island’s North Shore by a heartbreaking case that both earned him his NYPD detective’s shield and burned him out of the Job. Now heading up a small local police department, he finds himself navigating the same geography he did growing up there as the son of an NYPD cop. Jeep is a “have-not” among the glittering “haves,” a sharp-witted, down-to-earth man in a territory defined and ruled by multigenerational wealth and power and the daunting tribal codes and customs that come with it.

When the corpse of Jeep’s childhood friend Johnny Chambliss—born into privilege and known as “Johnny Careless” for his reckless, golden-boy antics—surfaces in the Bayville waters, past collides with present, and Jeep is pulled into a treacherous web. He is challenged by Johnny’s wealthy and secretive family and his beautiful, enigmatic ex-wife as he untangles a knotted mystery fraught with theft, corrupt local moguls, and decades-old secrets, all while grappling with his own deep-seated grief for his lost pal.

A fast-paced story, Johnny Careless “combines grit and wit in a way that conjures Donald Westlake or Robert Parker in full stride” (Carl Hiassen).

---

Kevin Wade is a playwright, screenwriter, and television writer and producer whose credits include the stage plays Key Exchange, Mr. & Mrs., and Cruise Control, and the screenplays for Working Girl (seven Academy Award nominations), True Colors, Mr. Baseball, Junior, Meet Joe Black, and Maid in Manhattan. For television, he created the ABC television drama Cashmere Mafiaand in 2010 joined the rookie CBS drama Blue Bloods as a writer. Starting with the second season and for the rest of the show’s fourteen year-run, Wade served as its showrunner, executive producer, and back-seat driver.

---

Enjoy the conversation with Kevin Wade.

Patrick MIllikin and Jennifer Johans recently hosted William Boyle for a virtual event. Jennifer Johans is a new employee of The Poisoned Pen, as well as a podcaster and film critic. So, they’re the perfect pair to welcome Boyle who discussed his new book, Saint of the Narrows Street. There are signed copies of the book available through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4gv7wNx.

Here’s the description of Saint of the Narrows Street.

Saint of the Narrows Street

As an Italian American family’s decades-old secret begins to unravel, they will have to bear the consequences—and face each other—in this thrilling south Brooklyn-set tragic opera of the highest caliber from crime fiction luminary William Boyle.

William Boyle is the master of Brooklyn-set crime fiction and Saint of the Narrows Street is his magnum opus. For fans of The Sopranos, Jonathan Lethem, and Dennis Lehane.

Gravesend, Brooklyn, 1986: Risa Franzone lives in a ground-floor apartment on Saint of the Narrows Street with her bad-seed husband, Saverio, and their eight-month-old baby, Fabrizio. On the night Risa’s younger sister, Giulia, moves in to recover from a bad breakup, a fateful accident occurs: Risa, boiled over with anger and fear, strikes a drunk, erratic Sav with a cast-iron pan, killing him on
the spot.

The sisters are left with a choice: notify the authorities and make a case for self-defense, or bury the man’s body and go on with their lives as best they can. In a moment of panic, in the late hours of the night, they call upon Sav’s childhood friend—the sweet, loyal Christopher “Chooch” Gardini—to help them, hoping they can trust him to carry a secret like this.

Over the vast expanse of the next eighteen years, life goes on in the working-class Italian neighborhood of Gravesend as Risa, Giulia, Chooch, and eventually Fabrizio grapple with what happened that night. A standout work of character-driven crime fiction from a celebrated author of the form, Saint of the Narrows Street is a searing and richly drawn novel about the choices we make and how they shape our lives.

---

William Boyle is the author of eight books set in the southern Brooklyn neighborhood where he was born and raised, including his debut, Gravesend; the story collection Death Don’t Have No Mercy; The Lonely Witness, nominated for the Hammett Prize; A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself, an Amazon Best Book of 2019; City of Margins, a Washington Post Best Thriller and Mystery Book of 2020; and Shoot the Moonlight Out, listed by CrimeReads as one of the ten best noir novels of 2021. He currently lives in Oxford, Mississippi.

---

Enjoy the conversation with William Boyle.

Jonathan Kellerman recently appeared for The Poisoned Pen to discuss his latest Alex Delaware novel, Open Season.There are signed copies of the book available through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3QamlKA.

Here’s the summary of Open Season.

The most beloved and enduring duo in American crime fiction is back.

Psychologist Alex Delaware and Homicide Detective Milo Sturgis race against time to find a twisted killer in this riveting thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling “master of suspense” (Los Angeles Times).

People come to Los Angeles to chase their dreams. Sometimes they find themselves cast into a nightmare. And sometimes, the most ardent dreamers turn out to be the most vicious monsters.

The body of an aspiring actress is found dumped near a hospital emergency room. She’s been drugged and murdered and the motive for the callous crime remains maddeningly out of reach. Until, a prime suspect materializes. Another Hollywood hopeful. Only to be shot dead by a sniper using a weapon that turns out to have been catalogued in a previous murder. And another, before that. It’s not long before more bodies begin piling up.

What makes the murderous spree baffling is the apparent lack of connection among the victims. Is this the work of a random thrill killer, the toughest of all cases to unravel?

But as Alex and Milo dig deeper they’re faced with an even knottier scenario: a highly complex killer with deep-seated motivation that will require all of their highly honed skills to decipher.

The latest page-turner from #1 New York Times bestseller Jonathan Kellerman, is a tale of psychological complexity, dark suspense, and shocking surprises. A wild ride through L.A.’s surreal underbelly climaxed by an edge-of-the chair conclusion.

---

Jonathan Kellerman has lived in two worlds: clinical psychologist and #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than fifty crime novels. His unique perspective on human behavior has led to the creation of the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher’s Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted, True Detectives, and The Murderer’s Daughter. With his wife, bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, he co-authored Double Homicide and Capital Crimes. With his son, bestselling novelist Jesse Kellerman, he co-authored The Burning, Half Moon Bay, A Measure of Darkness, Crime Scene, The Golem of Hollywood, and The Golem of Paris. He is also the author of two children’s books and numerous nonfiction works, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children and With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association, and has been nominated for a Shamus Award. Jonathan and Faye Kellerman live in California.

---

Enjoy the conversation with Jonathan Kellerman and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.

Barbara Peters welcomed Joseph Finder back to The Poisoned Pen to discuss her new book, The Oligarch’s Daughter. The Oligarch’s Daughter is the Crime Novel of the Month at the bookstore. At the time of writing this, there were still a couple signed copies of the book left in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3Q2XAzY

Here’s the description of The Oligarch’s Daughter.

https://bit.ly/3Q2XAzY

“Any new novel by Joseph Finder is a ticket to reading pleasure, and this one is hands down his best ever.”—Stephen King

“This is Finder at his finest—a perfect everyman-in-peril story, first building an ominous drumbeat of menace, then exploding in action and intrigue and triumph. As good as it gets.”—Lee Child

From the New York Times bestselling author of House on Fire, a breakneck thriller that marries the dynastic opulence of Succession with the tense and disorienting spycraft of The Americans.

Paul Brightman is a man on the run, living under an assumed name in a small New England town with a million-dollar bounty on his head. When his security is breached, Paul is forced to flee into the New Hampshire wilderness to evade Russian operatives who can seemingly predict his every move.

Six years ago, Paul was a rising star on Wall Street who fell in love with a beautiful photographer named Tatyana—unaware that her father was a Russian oligarch and the object of considerable interest from several U.S. intelligence agencies. Now, to save his own life, Paul must unravel a decades-old conspiracy that extends to the highest reaches of the government.

Rivaling the classic spy novels of the Cold War, The Oligarch’s Daughter is built for the frightening world we live in now.

---

Joseph Finder is the New York Times bestselling author of fifteen suspense novels, including House on Fire, The Fixer, and Suspicion. Two of his novels have been adapted into major motion pictures—Paranoia (starring Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman) and High Crimes (starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman). Four more have won the industry’s top best novel awards—Killer Instinct (the International Thriller Writers Award), Buried Secrets (the Strand Critics Award); Guilty Minds (the Barry Award), and Company Man (the Barry Award). Finder lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

---

Enjoy Barbara Peters’ conversation with Joseph Finder.