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.
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/
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?
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.
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.
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.
Ballard can’t let him go through department records, but when he leaves, she looks into the case herself and feels a deep tug of empathy and anger. She has never been the kind of cop who leaves the job behind at the end of her shift — and she wants in.
The murder, unsolved, was of fifteen-year-old Daisy Clayton, a runaway on the streets of Hollywood who was brutally killed, her body left in a dumpster like so much trash. Now Ballard joins forces with Bosch to find out what happened to Daisy, and to finally bring her killer to justice. Along the way, the two detectives forge a fragile trust, but this new partnership is put to the test when the case takes an unexpected and dangerous turn.
Dark Sacred Night for the first time brings together these two powerhouse detectives in a riveting story that unfolds with furious momentum. And it shows once more why “there’s no doubt Connelly is a master of crime fiction” (Associated Press).
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
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!
In the November edition of Booknews you’ll find a listing of events, new books, our paperback recommendations, classics, and an extra helping of British fiction, crime and otherwise. Click here to view the PDF
In December, Dana Stabenow will launch a new series with the first Eye of Isis mystery, Death of an Eye. Release date is December 6, and Stabenow will be at The Poisoned Pen on Saturday, December 8 at 2 PM, appearing with 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
It may seem a little early to discuss this gorgeous book, but it’s never too early to mention an author will be appearing at the Poisoned Pen. 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.
*****
The other reason to write about Death of an Eyeright now? She just wrote a wonderful post for her own website, and she’s allowing us to share it. Dana Stabenow will now tell everyone why she’s writing about Cleopatra in her post, “Why Cleopatra?” https://stabenow.com/2018/10/29/why-cleopatra/