Liam Callanan hosts Cara Black, author of the Aimee Leduc Investigations, on Thursday, June 21 at 7 PM. Signed copies of Black’s eighteenth mystery in the series, Murder on the Left Bank, are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2IYOeVY

Here’s the summary of Murder on the Left Bank.

The eighteenth mystery in the New York Times bestselling Parisian detective series! 

A dying man drags his oxygen machine into the office of Éric Besson, a lawyer in Paris’s 13th arrondissement. The old man, an accountant, is carrying a dilapidated notebook full of meticulous investment records. For decades, he has been helping a cadre of dirty cops launder stolen money. The notebook contains his full confession—he’s waited 50 years to make it, and now it can’t wait another day. He is adamant that Besson get the notebook into the hands of La Proc, Paris’s chief prosecuting attorney, so the corruption can finally be brought to light. But en route to La Proc, Besson’s courier—his assistant and nephew—is murdered, and the notebook disappears.

Grief-stricken Éric Besson tries to hire private investigator Aimée Leduc to find the notebook, but she is reluctant to get involved. Her father was a cop and was murdered by the same dirty syndicate the notebook implicates. She’s not sure which she’s more afraid of, the dangerous men who would kill for the notebook or the idea that her father’s name might be among the dirty cops listed within it. Ultimately that’s the reason she must take the case, which leads her across the Left Bank, from the Cambodian enclave of Khmer Rouge refugees to the ancient royal tapestry factories to the modern art galleries.

*****

Recently, Cara Black’s publisher put together a guide to the series. It’s a fascinating look at the setting and stories. Even if you’re up-to-date with the mysteries, you’ll want to check it out. https://www.discovermysteries.com/black/

Martin Walker will be at the Poisoned Pen on Monday, June 18 at 7 PM. His latest Bruno, Chief of Police mystery, A Taste for Vengeance is the current Hot Book of the Week. If you can’t make it on Monday evening, you can still order a signed copy of that book, or copies of Walker’s other books,  through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2ynMUXE

Here’s the summary of A Taste for Vengeance.

A missing woman, a shocking pregnancy, a dash of international intrigue, and a bottle or two of good Bergerac: it’s another case for Bruno, Chief of Police.

When a British tourist fails to turn up for a luxurious cooking vacation in Bruno’s usually idyllic Dordogne village of St. Denis, the worried hostess is quick to call on Bruno for help. Monica Felder is nowhere to be found, and her husband, a retired British major, is unreachable. And not long after Bruno discovers that Monica was traveling with a mysterious Irishman (her lover?), the two turn up dead. The Irishman’s background in intelligence and his connection to Monica’s husband only raise more questions for Bruno. Was she running away? How much does her husband really know? What’s the real story behind a scandal buried in the threesome’s military past? Meanwhile, the star of the girls’ rugby team, a favorite of Bruno’s, is pregnant, putting at risk her chances of being named to the French national squad. Bruno’s search for the truth in both cases leads him to places he hadn’t intended to go–but, as ever, he and his friends take time to savor the natural delights of the Dordogne. Santé!

Congratulations to the nominees for this year’s Macavity Awards. And, of course, a special hat tip to Wendall Thomas and Martin Edwards, whose books were published by Poisoned Pen Press. Don’t forget to check for books available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s how Janet Rudolph reported it on her website, https://mysteryreadersinc.blogspot.com/

“The Macavity Awards are nominated by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal and friends of MRI. The winners will be announced at opening ceremonies at Bouchercon in St Petersburg, FL, in September. Congratulations to all.”

Best Mystery Novel
The Marsh King’s Daughter, by Karen Dionne (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz (Harper)
Bluebird, Bluebird, by Attica Locke (Mulholland)
Glass Houses, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
The Old Man, by Thomas Perry (Mysterious)
The Force, by Don Winslow (Wm. Morrow)

Best First Mystery Novel
Hollywood Homicide, by Kellye Garrett (Midnight Ink)
The Dry, by Jane Harper (Flatiron)
She Rides Shotgun, by Jordan Harper (Ecco)
The Lost Ones, by Sheena Kamal (Wm. Morrow)
The Last Place You Look, by Kristen Lepionka (Minotaur)
Lost Luggage, by Wendall Thomas (Poisoned Pen)

Best Mystery-Related Nonfiction
From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon, by Mattias Bostrom (Mysterious Press)
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, by Martin Edwards (Poisoned Pen/British Library)

Chester B. Himes: A Biography, by Lawrence P. Jackson (W.W. Norton)
The Man From the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery, by Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James (Scribner)
Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes, by Michael Sims (Bloomsbury)
Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History, by Tori Telfer (Harper Perennial)

Best Mystery Short Story
“As Ye Sow,” by Craig Faustus Buck, in Passport to Murder: Bouchercon Anthology 2017 (Down and Out Books)
“The #2 Pencil,” by Matt Coyle, in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea (Down & Out Books)
“Infinite Uticas,” by Terence Faherty (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, May/June 2017)
“Whose Wine is it Anyway?” Barb Goffman, in 50 Shades of Cabernet (Koehler Books)
“Windward,” by Paul D. Marks, in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea (Down & Out Books)
“A Necessary Ingredient,” by Art Taylor, in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea (Down & Out Books)

Sue Feder Memorial Award: Best Historical Mystery
Dangerous to Know, by Renee Patrick (Forge)
The Devouring, by James R. Benn (Soho Crime)
In Farleigh Field, by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union Publishing)
Cast the First Stone, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street Books)
Racing the Devil, by Charles Todd (Wm. Morrow)
A Rising Man, by Abir Mukherjee (Pegasus)

Did you get one of the copies of The Pharaoh Key that Douglas Preston signed?

Copies are still available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2HQxlHs

Here’s the description of The Pharaoh Key.

I think those of us who missed the Venetian Tea that kicked off the release of Laurie R. King’s latest Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery, Island of the Mad, missed quite a party. You can still order a signed copy of the book through the Web Store, though. https://bit.ly/2l5ND6o

And, we can enjoy the pictures of the audience. Some dressed in costume. Some wore masks. And, some even demonstrated dance moves. It looks like everyone had a good time.

Are you reading any of the books from PBS’ Great American Read this summer? About a month ago, I posted about the search for America’s favorite book. Not necessarily the best book, or the Great American Novel, but America’s favorite book. https://bit.ly/2y2g3Ym

John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars, recently did a ten minute episode for PBS. It’s a Crash Course in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye.

For those of us who read it twice, and never did understand why it was popular (me), Green is a terrific presenter who makes Holden Caulfield more interesting. Check out the video. https://bit.ly/2HJ8HIU

Then, check the Web Store for John Green’s books or The Catcher in the Rye. https://store.poisonedpen.com

If you didn’t make it to the Venetian Tea with Laurie R. King the other day, you can still celebrate the publication of Island of the Mad. It’s the current Hot Book of the Week at the Poisoned Pen. You can buy a signed copy of that book, or copies of King’s other books through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2JuI14f

Here’s the summary of Island of the Mad.

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are back in Laurie R. King’s New York Times bestselling series—”the most sustained feat of imagination in mystery fiction today” (Lee Child).

With Mrs. Hudson gone from their lives and domestic chaos building, the last thing Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, need is to help an old friend with her mad and missing aunt.

Lady Vivian Beaconsfield has spent most of her adult life in one asylum after another, since the loss of her brother and father in the Great War. And although her mental state seemed to be improving, she’s now disappeared after an outing from Bethlem Royal Hospital . . . better known as Bedlam.

Russell wants nothing to do with the case—but she can’t say no. And at least it will get her away from the challenges of housework and back to the familiar business of investigation. To track down the vanished woman, she brings to the fore her deductive instincts and talent for subterfuge—and of course enlists her husband’s legendary prowess. Together, Russell and Holmes travel from the grim confines of Bedlam to the winding canals and sun-drenched Lido cabarets of Venice—only to find the foreboding shadow of Benito Mussolini darkening the fate of a city, an era, and a tormented English lady of privilege.

*****

And, I’m hoping this is going to work. If it does, you can watch the Facebook video of Saturday’s event at the Poisoned Pen. If it doesn’t work, you’ll have to go to the Poisoned Pen’s Facebook page to watch it.

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F238297496213972%2Fvideos%2F1825101207533585%2F&show_text=0&width=560

It’s always fun to catch up with Marilyn Stasio’s Crime column in The New York Times. This week, she’s reviewing John Connolly’s latest book, along with crime novels by Charlton Pettus, Charlie Donlea, and Pamela Wechsler. Check out the column. https://nyti.ms/2JrPcGs

Then, come back and look for the books in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Did you know Laurie R. King wrote a science fiction novel? Because of that, she hosted Peng Shepherd, author of The Book of M, for her appearance at the Poisoned Pen. Shepherd’s book is the science fiction selection of the month at the bookstore. Signed copies are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2JFE8ci

Here’s the description of The Book of M.

“Eerie, dark, and compelling, [The Book of M] will not disappoint lovers of The Passage and Station Eleven.” –Booklist

WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE UP TO REMEMBER?

Set in a dangerous near future world, The Book of M tells the captivating story of a group of ordinary people caught in an extraordinary catastrophe who risk everything to save the ones they love. It is a sweeping debut that illuminates the power that memories have not only on the heart, but on the world itself.

One afternoon at an outdoor market in India, a man’s shadow disappears—an occurrence science cannot explain. He is only the first. The phenomenon spreads like a plague, and while those afflicted gain a strange new power, it comes at a horrible price: the loss of all their memories.

Ory and his wife Max have escaped the Forgetting so far by hiding in an abandoned hotel deep in the woods. Their new life feels almost normal, until one day Max’s shadow disappears too.

Knowing that the more she forgets, the more dangerous she will become to Ory, Max runs away. But Ory refuses to give up the time they have left together. Desperate to find Max before her memory disappears completely, he follows her trail across a perilous, unrecognizable world, braving the threat of roaming bandits, the call to a new war being waged on the ruins of the capital, and the rise of a sinister cult that worships the shadowless.

As they journey, each searches for answers: for Ory, about love, about survival, about hope; and for Max, about a new force growing in the south that may hold the cure.

Like The Passage and Station Eleven, this haunting, thought-provoking, and beautiful novel explores fundamental questions of memory, connection, and what it means to be human in a world turned upside down.

*****

King’s interview with Peng Shepherd was filmed for Livestream. You can watch and listen to it here.  https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/8241342