Will Thomas returned to The Poisoned Pen Bookstore for a virtual event. His latest book is Season of Death. Barbara Peters, owner of the Pen, asked Thomas about the appeal of Victorian England as a setting. If that time period appeals to you, you can order a copy of his latest book, Season of Death, through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3Et6V2a
Here’s the description of Season of Death.
In late Victorian England, private enquiry agents Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn find themselves in the middle of the deadly chaos when powerful forces align to take over London’s criminal underworld.
Private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker, along with his partner Thomas Llewelyn, has a long, accomplished history – he’s worked with all aspects of society, from the highest (including the Crown and the government) to the lowest (various forces in London’s underworld). He’s been the target of murder attempts, character assassination, bombings and attacks upon his closest associates but never has he and his agency partner Thomas Llewelyn faced such destruction and potential disaster.
The sudden collapse of a railway tunnel in the East End of London kills dozens and shuts down services all over the city. Meanwhile, a mysterious beggar calling herself “Dutch” guides Barker and Llewelyn to an attempt by a powerful aristocrat to take over London’s criminal underworld. With a missing heiress and a riot at a women’s shelter acting as distractions designed to stop the duo from getting to the truth, Barker must relentlessly fight to reach the trust while Llewelyn wonders how a simple beggar woman can be the catalyst for such destruction.
Will Thomas is Managing Director of Vision for Learning and CEO of The Institute of Educational Coaching. Will holds a Masters degree in Mentoring and Counselling and is an accredited coach. He works regularly with teachers, leaders and learners to support their progress.
Today is Independent Bookstore Day, and The Poisoned Pen invites readers to share the day with the staff.
Stop by and celebrate with the staff
Barbara Peters, the Pen’s owner, will be handing out candy and reading suggestions from 11 to 12. The booksellers will be available all day for more. It will be a good day to take selfies in the store. Also the Cook Book Club meets at 11:00 AM and members bring recipes to share so that’s extra delicious. You don’t need to have read the recommended book to attend.
There is some special swag for you to snag
AND all day we offer a 25% off SALE excluding books in the Locked Case, the Signed Collectibles Section, and books already on general sale
All in-store purchases will be noted at the end of the day and one winner will receive a $50 Gift Card
The Pen staff hopes to see you. Hours are 10 AM to 6 PM.
Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed S.J. Rozan to the bookstore. Along with John Shen Yen Nee, Rozan is the author of the new mystery, The Railway Conspiracy. There are signed copies of the book in stock in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3EMZeUp
Here’s the summary of The Railway Conspiracy.
Judge Dee and Lao She must use all their powers of deduction—and kung fu skills—to take down a sinister conspiracy between Imperial Russia, Japan, and China in a rollicking new mystery set in 1920s London.
The follow-up to The Murder of Mr. Ma, this historical adventure-mystery is perfect for fans of Laurie R. King and the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes films.
London, 1924. Following several months abroad, Judge Dee Ren Jie has returned to the city to foil a transaction between a Russian diplomat and a Japanese mercenary. Aided by Lao She—the Watson to his Holmes—along with several other colorful characters, Dee stops the illicit sale of an extremely valuable “dragon-taming” mace.
The mace’s owner is a Chinese businesswoman who thanks Dee for its retrieval by throwing a lavish dinner party. In attendance is British banking official A. G. Stephen, who argues with the group about the tenuous state of Chinese nationalism—and is poisoned two days later. Dee knows this cannot be a coincidence, and suspects Stephen won’t be the only victim. Sure enough, a young Chinese communist of Lao’s acquaintance is killed not long after—and a note with a strange symbol is found by his body.
What could connect these murders? Could it be related to rumors of a conspiracy regarding the Chinese Eastern Railway? It is once again all on the unlikely crime-solving duo of Dee and Lao to solve the case before anyone else ends up tied to the rails.
John Shen Yen Nee is a half Chinese, half Scottish American media executive, producer and entrepreneur who was born in Knoxville, grew up in San Diego, and is now based in Los Angeles, with a penchant for very long run-on sentences. He has served as president of WildStorm Productions, senior vice president of DC Comics, publisher of Marvel Comics, CEO of Cryptozoic Entertainment; and cofounder of CCG Labs.
SJ Rozan is the author of twenty novels and over eighty short stories, and editor of three anthologies. She has won multiple awards, including the Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, Nero, Macavity; Japanese Maltese Falcon; and the Private Eye Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award. She’s served on the national boards of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, and as president of Private Eye Writers of America. SJ has taught at such diverse places as the Art Workshop International in Assisi, Italy; Singapore Management University in Singapore; the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida; and the Novel-in-Progress Bookcamp in Wisconsin. She was born in the Bronx and lives in Manhattan.
Arizona author Karen Odden with SJ Rozan at the Pen.
Enjoy the conversation about The Railway Conspiracy and Rozan’s writing.
Deanna Raybourn’s Kills Well with Others is the sequel to her popular book, Killers of a Certain Age. You can order copies of both books through the Webstore at The Poisoned Pen. https://bit.ly/4iqwb6V
Oline Cogdill recently reviewed Kills Well with Others for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Maybe her review will convince you to pick up a copy of the book.
Book review: Senior women refuse to be underestimated in action-packed ‘Kills Well With Others’
In “Kills Well With Others,” author Deanna Raybourn brings back Billie, Mary Alice, Natalie and Helen, who refuse to have their skills disparaged or be overlooked because they are women in their 60s. The foursome were first introduced in “Killers of a Certain Age” (2022). (Holly Virginia Photography/Courtesy)
‘Kills Well With Others’ by Deanna Raybourn. Berkley, 368 pages, $29
For some, retirement is an undefinable word. Oh, we know what it means, but many of us don’t adhere to the traditional views that retirement means doing as little as possible and, sadly, sometimes being ignored by others.
Others of us use this time to sharpen our skills, redefine ourselves and find satisfying work, sometimes working harder than when employed full time.
Deanna Raybourn’s “Kills Well With Others” brings back Billie, Mary Alice, Natalie and Helen, who refuse to have their skills disparaged or be overlooked because they are women in their 60s. Introduced in “Killers of a Certain Age” (2022), the foursome were trying to retire as the first all-female elite assassin squad working for an “extra governmental” organization called the Museum. That alleged retirement didn’t go well.
Raybourn continues with these themes in “Kills Well With Others” — senior women refusing to be underestimated, the power of female friendship, and belief in themselves and their skills. They might move a bit slower, but don’t mess with them.
“Good training never dies,” is a recurring refrain in “Kills Well With Others.” Raybourn also shows how a commitment to a career continues: “… some jobs you leave, but they never leave you,” says Billie.
In “Kills Well With Others,” the four reunite to find who murdered another retired Museum member and who may be targeting them. This time, they want to be overlooked, so they disguise themselves several times during their investigation, which takes them across Europe and to Egypt. The job is off the books, so instead of the usual first-class travel, they face flights in coach, second-rate hotels — reserved with a Groupon, of all things — and crowded trains. Gourmet dining also is off the table.
The four are an appealing group who bicker and zigzag from serious to jokes, but their respect and love for each other are never in doubt.
Since being recruited in 1978, the women learned the utmost in the life/work balance with husbands, wives, widowhood and legitimate jobs filling the months or years between assignments. Yes, these women are killers — excellent killers — but Raybourn keeps the reader totally on their side as the Museum only targets the worst of the worst (arms dealers, sex traffickers, the occasional dictator, cult leaders and corrupt judges).
Raybourn balances her action-packed plot with wry humor, often about that life/work balance. The four just want their pensions, which are stuck in bureaucracy. They meet their younger former boss, Naomi, at Colonial Williamsburg, discussing the assignment while Naomi breastfeeds her baby while her husband takes their toddler to the restroom. Naomi wants the briefing to go quickly so she and her family can get to a theme park where there’s “a funnel cake with my name on it.” The women have great fun with their disguises.
Raybourn also writes two Edgar-nominated series set during the Victorian era and a third series set during the 1920s. We hope she also continues with more stories about this foursome — and that Billie, Mary Alice, Natalie and Helen get their pensions.
Check out the video from The Poisoned Pen Bookstore if you’d like to hear Deanna Raybourn discuss her books.
Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, says she and Anne Hillerman have been friends for years, maybe even thirty years. Hillerman appeared again at the bookstore, with her latest book in the Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito series, Shadow of the Solstice. There are still signed copies of the book available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/42ISIGj
Here’s the description of Shadow of the Solstice.
“Anne Hillerman deserves recognition as one of the finest mystery authors currently working in the genre.”—New York Journal of Books
In this gripping chapter in New York Times bestselling author Anne Hillerman’s Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series, the detectives must sort out a save-the-planet meditation group connected to a mysterious death and a nefarious scheme targeting vulnerable indigenous people living with addiction.
The Navajo Nation police are on high alert when a U.S. Cabinet Secretary schedules an unprecedented trip to the little Navajo town of Shiprock, New Mexico. The visit coincides with a plan to resume uranium mining along the Navajo Nation border. Tensions around the official’s arrival escalate when the body of a stranger is found in an area restricted for the disposal of radioactive uranium waste. Is it coincidence that a cult with a propensity for violence arrives at a private camp group outside Shiprock the same week to celebrate the summer solstice? When the outsiders’ erratic behavior makes their Navajo hosts uneasy, Officer Bernadette Manuelito is assigned to monitor the situation. She finds a young boy at grave risk, abused women, and other shocking discoveries that plunge her and Lt. Jim Chee into a volatile and deadly situation.
Meanwhile, Darleen Manuelito, Bernie’s high spirited younger sister, learns one of her home health clients is gone–and the woman’s daughter doesn’t seem to care. Darleen’s curiosity and sense of duty combine to lead her to discover that the client’s grandson is also missing and that the two have become ensnared in a wickedly complex scheme exploiting indigenous people. Darleen’s information meshes with a case Chee has begun to solve that deals with the evil underside of human nature.
Anne Hillerman is the bestselling author of the Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito mysteries. The series was created by her father, Tony Hillerman. She is also an executive producer of the Dark Winds television series on AMC. When Anne’s not working, she loves to walk with her dogs, read, cook, travel and enjoy the night sky. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Tucson, Arizona.
We’ve talked about Marie Benedict’s mystery, The Queens of Crime, when she appeared at The Poisoned Pen. In fact, there are still a few signed copies of the book available in the Webstore. http://bit.ly/4h0bWMV
But, it’s always a pleasure to share Oline Cogdill’s reviews from the South Florida Sun Sentinel, and she recently reviewed The Queens of Crime.
Book review: Clever ‘Queens of Crime’ a meticulously researched novel about women mystery writers
Marie Benedict’s “The Queens of Crime” is set in England in 1930. (Anthony Musmanno/Courtesy)
‘The Queens of Crime’ by Marie Benedict. St. Martin’s, 320 pages, $29
Mystery fiction has changed drastically since 1930, the time frame for Marie Benedict’s clever and engaging “The Queens of Crime” set in England.
Back then — in England and America — most best-sellers were written by men, who also were the major book buyers. The exception was Agatha Christie, who was and remains one of the top-selling authors.
In the novel, Christie is recruited by crime author Dorothy Sayers, who has just founded the Detection Club, “the preeminent organization of mystery writers” in England. Sayers wants more women than just her and Christie to be members, but there are “grumblings” from the men, worried about an “abundance of women” infiltrating their ranks.
That “abundance” of women authors would be the three other female mystery writers — Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy — who were best-sellers of their time and whose books still sell and are revered. When the women finally are allowed in the club, they encounter a lack of respect and blatant misogyny, with some deriding their novels and attributing success to their husbands.
But these are not women who are easily dismissed or allow themselves to be ignored. They form their own club within the club, calling themselves “The Queens of Crime.” And to further prove to their male colleagues that their stories are authentic, they plan to solve a real murder — that of British nurse May Daniels, whose body has just been found, seven months after she had vanished in France. The case is the kind of investigation each specializes in.
Benedict skillfully shows how these women writers differ in their writing, lifestyles and approaches to dealing with each other. They are a bit prickly, but who wouldn’t be, given the challenges of the times and working in a male-dominated field. And while their relationships with each other aren’t always smooth, each respects and supports the other.
They draw on their methods of writing to solve the nurse’s murder. Readers will recognize many devices these writers used. Gather all the suspects into one room? Of course.
It’s hardly a spoiler to say they succeed. After all, they are “The Queens of Crime,” and readers know how these stories end. But the joy is spending time with Sayers, Christie, Marsh, Allingham and Orczy.
Benedict’s “The Queens of Crime” demands readers rediscover these masters’ works, which continue to inspire new generations of writers. It is a meticulously researched novel based on historical fact and featuring real people.
The Detection Club was a real group. G.K. Chesterton, author of the Father Brown mysteries, was The Detection Club’s first president. Christie and Sayers were the first women members. The club continues to exist; its oath and rules are definitely worth looking up.
If you’d like to hear Marie Benedict talk about The Queens of Crime, check out the YouTube video from her appearance at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore.
Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Adam Plantinga to the bookstore. Plantinga’s new book, Hard Town, is the current Hot Book of the Week. There are signed copies of the book available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3RYcf0o
Here’s the description of Hard Town.
From the author of the USA Today bestseller The Ascent, a retired Detroit cop must unravel the mystery of a small desert town.
After surviving a deadly prison break, ex-Detroit cop Kurt Argento is ready for some quiet. Still working through his grief over the passing of his wife, Argento finds himself house-sitting for a friend with his loyal companion, Hudson, a Chow Chow-Shepard mix. It’s a simple life, but it’s one that Argento is content to live. Then Kristin Reed shows up, begging Argento to find her missing husband and son.
Argento starts to notice that Fenton, Arizona is more than meets the eye. First there’s the large, overly equipped public safety team complete with specialized tactics and sophisticated weaponry. Then there’s the unusual financial boosting of failing small businesses by the U.S. government. Finally, there’s a man with no name with unprecedented control over the town. Argento finds himself unraveling not just the truth behind the disappearance of a family, but a conspiracy that’s taken a whole town to cover up.
Fenton, Arizona is going to push him further than he’s ever had to go. And along the way, he may just lose a part of himself. Because justice isn’t as black and white as Argento would like to believe.
Adam Plantinga is a patrol sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department whose first two nonfiction books— 400 Things Cops Know and Police Craft— have become his calling cards to the world of thrillers. 400 Things was nominated for an Agatha, a Macavity, and was deemed “the new Bible for crime writers” by the Wall Street Journal. Adam’s fiction debut, The Ascent, was published in 2024 and became a USA Today bestseller.
Oline Cogdill recently reviewed Sara Sligar’s Vantage Point for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The Poisoned Pen still has copies in stock in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4cIrR1G
Book review: April is the cruelest month in Sara Sligar’s perceptive ‘Vantage Point’
Author Sara Sligar skillfully upends her story in every chapter of “Vantage Point.” (Honora Talbott/Courtesy)
Vantage Point’ by Sara Sligar. MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 400 pages, $29
April has been called the cruelest month, and it certainly feels that way to the wealthy, fractured Wieland family at the center of Sara Sligar’s perceptive “Vantage Point.” That’s because April is when the family’s so-called curse kicks in.
For more than 100 years, descendants of self-made steel tycoon Thomas Wieland have died or suffered other trauma during this month. Some Wielands have dismissed this “curse” as a myth or a coincidence, but these naysayers still suffered the effects of the prophecy.
Clara Wieland believes that her family is jinxed during April. Her brother, Teddy, and his wife, Jess, do not agree with this theory. Clara became a believer when she witnessed her parents die in a freak accident when she was 16 years old.
Now, 16 years later, Clara thinks her time has come when a humiliating and graphic sex tape showing her is released on the internet. The video is personally embarrassing and could also derail Teddy’s run for the Senate to represent their part of Maine. Teddy wants the police involved, but Clara, who doesn’t recognize the man nor remember the incident, refuses. When additional tapes featuring Clara, Jess and Teddy are released, Teddy’s team try to prove these videos are deepfakes.
“Vantage Point” unfolds during one month — April, of course — heightening the suspense as May draws closer. Themes of classism, entitlement, revenge, survivor’s guilt and betrayal seep through the novel.
Sligar uses the tapes to unearth the fault lines that run through the family as “Vantage Point” becomes an insightful character study. To outsiders, the Wielands are a solid family, committed to each other and to improving their community as well as the state of Maine. They’ve held on to their family wealth, are respected locally, seem compassionate.
Clara and Jess were best friends as children, as close as sisters; now they are truly sisters since Jess married Teddy. But Clara has been hospitalized a couple of times because of eating disorders, giving Teddy control of her money. Jess begins to realize how little she knows Teddy, who has repressed anger issues.
The title “Vantage Point” works on several levels, showing how points of view can differ among people.
The novel works well as a psychological thriller and a dark domestic tale as Sligar skillfully upends her story in every chapter.
Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed debut author Elizabeth Kaufman to the bookstore. Peters likes to remind readers if they show up for a debut author, or buy that author’s book, they can say they were there or knew to buy the first book when the author first appeared at the bookstore. There are signed copies of Ruth Run, the debut, available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3GbhW8R
Here’s the description of Ruth Run.
“A wildly fun and thrilling read in this age of digital theft, Ruth Run introduces us to an irresistible heroine and, in Elizabeth Kaufman, a scintillating new voice in contemporary fiction.” —Maria Semple, author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and Today Will Be Different
Cybercrime leads to a cross-country pursuit as an ambitious, misfit young thief exploits a hacked microchip to rob banks, and learns too late that the wrong people have been watching her
Twenty-six-year-old Ruth excels at microchip design but decides to get rich the old-fashioned way: robbing banks. She becomes a cybercriminal and devotes five years to siphoning more than $250 million out of the banking system using a hacked firewall chip that she created and only she knows how to access. Then one night an alarm goes off and she realizes she’s been discovered.
Five hours later she’s on the run, chased across California and the West by a slew of government agents who see her as both a high-level national security threat and a potential intelligence asset. They’ll catch her dead or alive—whatever it takes to make sure no one else discovers what she knows. Each of these men is obsessed with the woman he’s hunting, certain he knows what makes her tick. But Ruth, always a step ahead, armed with her ironic wit and a reluctant dog, eludes their understanding; can she elude their capture, too?
A nonstop oddball thriller for the age of digital theft, Ruth Run introduces an irresistible new heroine and a fantastic new voice in contemporary fiction.
Elizabeth Kaufman had a career in data networking, specializing in network security products and architectures. She now lives in rural northern Colorado.
Enjoy Elizabeth Kaufman’s first appearance at The Poisoned Pen.
Fans of Nils Shapiro, Matt Goldman’s series character, will be pleased to hear Nils will be back in his own book, Dark Humor, in December. Shapiro appears in a few chapters in Goldman’s latest book, The Murder Show, the book he talked about at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore. There are signed copies of The Murder Show available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3RnWSOF
Here’s the description of The Murder Show.
The Murder Show is a pulse-racing novel about secrets, old friends, and how the past never leaves us by New York Times bestselling and Emmy Award winning author Matt Goldman!
Showrunner Ethan Harris had a hit with The Murder Show, a television crime drama that features a private detective who solves cases the police can’t. But after his pitch for the fourth season is rejected by the network, he returns home to Minnesota looking for inspiration.
His timing is fortunate — his former classmate Ro Greeman is now a local police officer, and she’s uncovered new information about the devastating hit and run that killed their mutual friend Ricky the summer after high school. She asks Ethan to help her investigate and thinks that if he portrays the killing on The Murder Show, the publicity may bring Ricky’s killer to justice.
Ethan is skeptical that Ricky’s death was anything but a horrible accident, but with the clock running out on his career, he’s willing to try anything. It doesn’t take long for them to realize they’ve dug up more than they bargained for. Someone is dead set on stopping Ethan and Ro from looking too closely into Ricky’s death — even if keeping them quiet means killing again…
New York Times bestselling author MATT GOLDMAN is a playwright and Emmy Award-winning television writer for Seinfeld, Ellen, and other shows. Goldman has been nominated for the Shamus and Nero Awards and was a Lariat Adult Fiction Reading List selection. He lives in Minnesota with his wife, pets, and whichever children happen to be around.
