Barbara Peters, owner of the Poisoned Pen, said in her recent newsletter that she’s going to ply Tim Hallinan with sangria and ask him questions about burglary. She “says” the questions are about security, not how to do it. Hallinan will be at the Poisoned Pen on Tuesday, November 13 at 7 PM to discuss and sign his latest book featuring burglar Junior Bender, Nighttown. Can’t make it? You can order Hallinan’s books, including a signed copy of Nighttown, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2PhmM9h

Of course, there will be a summary of Nighttown at the end of this piece. First, though, you might want to read Marilyn Stasio’s remarks about the book in her recent column. She says, “This one’s good for what ails you.” https://nyti.ms/2yLoWDA

Here’s the description of Tim Hallinan’s Nighttown.

Reluctant P.I. to the perfidious, Junior Bender, may be L.A.’s smoothest operator but when he breaks one of the cardinal rules of burglary (don’t take scores that you’re being paid way too much for) he finds himself once again on the wrong side of, well, the wrong side. 

Los Angeles burglar Junior Bender has a rule about never taking a job that pays too well: in the criminal underworld, if you’re offered more money than a job is worth, someone is going to end up dead. But he’s bending his rule this one time because he and his girlfriend, Ronnie, are in desperate need of cash to hire a kidnapper to snatch Ronnie’s two-year-old son back from her ex. The whole thing is pretty complicated and has Junior on edge.

The parameters of the job do nothing to calm his nerves. A nameless woman in an orange wig has offered Junior fifty grand—twenty-five up front—to break into the abandoned house of a recently deceased 97-year-old recluse, Daisy Horton, and steal a doll from her collection. Junior knows no doll is worth 50K, so he figures there must be something hidden inside the doll that can get him in a heap of trouble. It doesn’t take long for Junior to realize he’s not the only one looking for the doll. When an old friend ends up murdered, Junior decides he will stop at nothing to figure out who the woman in the orange wig is, and why she wants the doll badly enough to leave a trail of bodies in her wake.

Cleopatra is the subject of Dana Stabenow’s new mystery series, The Eye of Isis Mysteries. The first book, Death of an Eye, will be released as an ebook on December 6. But Stabenow will be at the Poisoned Pen on Saturday, Dec. 8 to sign the physical book. She’s joined by Laurie R. King and Leslie Klinger. You can pre-order a signed copy of Death of an Eye through the Web Store. You can also order copies of Stabenow’s other books. https://bit.ly/2F9m0Bq.

While you’re waiting for Death of an Eye, you can read Dana Stabenow’s ongoing remarks about Cleopatra. She’s sharing the link from her website as she answers the question, “Why Cleopatra?”. https://stabenow.com/2018/11/05/why-cleopatra-continued/

If you missed the earlier article, you can catch it here. https://bit.ly/2P3gsli

Here’s the description of Death of an Eye.

Alexandria, 47BCE: Cleopatra shares the throne with her brother Ptolemy under the auspices of Julius Caesar, by whom Cleopatra is heavily pregnant with child. A shipment of new coin meant to reset the shaky Egyptian economy has been stolen, the Queen’s Eye has been murdered and Queen Cleopatra turns to childhood friend Tetisheri to find the missing shipment and bring the murderer to justice.

Jason Kiel recently interviewed debut author Amina Akhtar for Phoenix New Times, https://bit.ly/2SRXXi2. The author of #FashionVictim is a long way from New York City in her present home in Cottonwood, Arizona, but she still uses her knowledge of the fashion industry for her darkly comic novel. Akhtar will be at the Poisoned Pen on Monday, November 12 at 7 PM to discuss and sign her book. Signed copies of #FashionVictim are available through the Web Store if you can’t make it Monday night. https://bit.ly/2JN237h

Here’s the summary of #FashionVictim.

“A new fashionably vicious read.”—Martha Stewart Living
“A diabolical page-turner . . . impossible to put down.”—Forbes
“Darkly funny.”—Fashionista
“As awesome as it sounds.”—Book Riot

A thrilling take on the fashion world,#FashionVictim isDexter meetsThe Devil Wears Prada.

Fashion editor Anya St. Clair is on the verge of greatness. Her wardrobe is to die for. Her social media is killer. And her career path is littered with the bodies of anyone who got in her way. She’s worked hard to get where she is, but she doesn’t have everything.

Not like Sarah Taft. Anya’s obsession sits one desk away. Beautiful, stylish, and rich, she was born to be a fashion world icon. From her beach-wave blonde hair to her on-trend nail art, she’s a walking editorial spread. And Anya wants to be her friend. Her best friend. Her only friend.

But when Sarah becomes her top competition for a promotion, Anya’s plan to win her friendship goes into overdrive. In order to beat Sarah…she’ll have to become her. Friendly competition may turn fatal, but as they say in fashion:One day you’re in, and the next day you’re dead.

It was all about Arizona when Marshall Trimble, Arizona’s state historian, chatted with Jon Talton. Trimble is the author of Arizona Oddities and Talton wrote A Brief History of Phoenix. Signed copies of both books, and copies of their others, are available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Interested in the odd facts about Phoenix and Arizona? You can watch the entire event online.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPkQqjJdnJY&w=560&h=315]

Poisoned Pen Press author Eileen Brady was recently interviewed in Bookreporter.com. Brady, the author of Penned, will appear at the Poisoned Pen on Saturday, November 10 at 2 PM, along with Ellen Crosby, author of Harvest of Secrets. Signed copies of both books are available to order through the Web Store.  https://store.poisonedpen.com/

You can read the interview with Eileen Brady here. https://bit.ly/2P8Otkm

Check out the summary of Penned.

Dr. Kate Turner, DVM, is seven months into her one-year contract to cover for a Hudson Valley vet taking a year-long world cruise. She’s getting used to the hospital and house-call workload but not to the sometimes dangerous, if not deadly, critters – animal and human – she meets.

Eighty-something-year-old Gloria LaGuardia has been installed at an assisted living center by her niece. They bump into Kate at the Oak Falls annual Halloween street bash. And while Gloria’s conversation indicates some mental confusion – she asks a couple dressed as rabbits if they are real or not – she’s still sharp. And she says, “Someone evil is here. I saw him.”

Saw who? Will this chance meeting draw Kate into the path of Carl Wolf, a notorious fugitive twenty-one years on the FBI’s Most Wanted List? Is Wolf hiding in plain sight in or around Oak Falls?

When Gloria, once an artist endowed with a sharp eye, is murdered, Kate doesn’t know what to think. But author Tucker Weinstein approaches her at Gloria’s funeral and indicates he believes the old woman. Further, he’s devoting a chapter in his book to Carl Wolf.

The FBI doesn’t appear interested. Gloria’s family just wants to move on. But publicity-hungry Tucker mentions Kate in a newspaper interview that goes viral. She’s overloaded with new clients like Billy, a Nubian stud goat living penned up with alpaca, llamas, and more goats on a local farm producing milk, wool, and cheese, and a grumpy Chihuahua dressed up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Yet she senses someone is now following her. An undercover FBI agent? Carl Wolf on the prowl?

Determined not to be a victim, Kate digs deep into the arson/murder Wolf committed long ago. Are the clues to unmasking him hidden in the past, or closer than she thinks?

*****

Eileen Brady’s website is https://www.eileenbradymysteries.com/

There was a great deal of discussion of history in the fascinating event recently held at The Poisoned Pen. Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, hosted authors Caroline Todd (Charles Todd) and Tasha Alexander. Todd writes about Bess Crawford immediately after the Great War in A Forgotten Place. The Victorian period is ending in Alexander’s latest book, Uneasy Lies the Crown. The authors’ books can be ordered through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

If you’re a fan of historical mysteries, you’re going to want to watch the video of the event.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlj1P0KX850&w=560&h=315]

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently discussed Michael Harvey’s new book, Pulse, with him. Usually, Harvey’s novels are set in Chicago. This time, Pulse takes readers to Boston for a detective story with supernatural elements. You can order Harvey’s books, including a signed copy of Pulse, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2ylObfx

Here’s the description of Pulse.

“Harvey’s lethal imagination is cranked to eleven in this one . . . his best yet by far.  Superb!”
— Lee Child

The story of a Boston murder that defies all expectations—optioned for film by 21 Laps, the company behind Stranger Things and Arrival

Boston, 1976. In a small apartment above Kenmore Square, sixteen-year-old Daniel Fitzsimmons is listening to his landlord describe a seemingly insane theory about invisible pulses of light and energy that can be harnessed by the human mind. He longs to laugh with his brother Harry about it, but Harry doesn’t know he’s there—he would never approve of Daniel living on his own. None of that matters, though, because the next night Harry, a Harvard football star, is murdered in an alley.

Detectives “Bark” Jones and Tommy Dillon are assigned to the case. The veteran partners thought they’d seen it all, but they are stunned when Daniel wanders into the crime scene. Even stranger, Daniel claims to have known the details of his brother’s murder before it ever happened. The subsequent investigation leads the detectives deep into the Fitzsimmons brothers’ past. They find heartbreaking loss, sordid characters, and metaphysical conspiracies. Even on the rough streets of 1970s Boston, Jones and Dillon have never had a case like this.

Pulse is a novel laced with real danger and otherworldly twists—a master class by an endlessly gifted writer.

*****

If you couldn’t make the event, you can feel as if you’re there as Michael Harvey discusses his book with Barbara Peters.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4TOJgCO5uU&w=560&h=315]

Michael Connelly’s Dark Sacred Night is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. You can order Connelly’s books, including a signed copy of Dark Sacred Night, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2RtzGgK

Dark Sacred Night brings together Connelly’s characters Harry Bosch and LAPD detective Renee Ballard. Here’s the description of the book.

Harry Bosch teams up with LAPD detective Renée Ballard to solve the murder of a young girl in the new thriller from #1 New York Timesbestselling author Michael Connelly.

Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen has been busy uploading videos of some of the recent events hosted by The Poisoned Pen. The first one we’ll share is Diana Gabaldon in conversation with author C.C. Humphreys on the occasion of the book launch for Voyager, the 25th Anniversary Edition. Diana Gabaldon was led in to the event by bagpipes. It was a packed house, as you’ll be able to tell from the video. You can still order copies of Gabaldon’s books, including signed copies of the 25th Anniversary edition of Voyager, through the Web Store.  https://bit.ly/2JuWtpI

Here’s the video, if you’d like to watch it.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX6vPrsWjYc&w=560&h=315]

And, if you’d like to learn a little more about C.C. Humphreys, you can check out the October 24th blog post. https://bit.ly/2ApXkoF

Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books probably don’t need any publicity. If you’re a fan, you’re waiting for Past Tense, the 23rd book in the series. You know you can order a signed copy through the Web Store, don’t you? https://bit.ly/2z4duCD

So, I’m not going to give you the description of Past Tense. Instead, I’ll share the short video from Random House in which Lee Child describes the book. And, then there’s a teaser book trailer as well. Enjoy!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvAtS0Wp1nY&w=560&h=315]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiYTTlxAUYk&w=560&h=315]

And, you can watch Lee Child discuss his book, The Killing Floor, on the BBC World Service in January.

BBC_WS_World_Book_Club_Lee Child