It’s been twenty years since Kent Anderson’s last novel. Now, he’s at the Poisoned Pen on Sunday, March 4 at 2 PM with his third crime novel, Green Sun. Signed copies are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2CSJk4V

Michael Schaub just reviewed Green Sun for NPR (National Public Radio). Schaub says, “Green Sun succeeds on so many levels, it’s hard to keep count.” You can read his entire review here. https://n.pr/2FJluf7. He says it’s worth waiting for two decades for this book.

What have you been waiting for? Here’s the summary.

“One of the unsung heroes of crime fiction” (Chicago Tribune), Kent Anderson returns after two decades with this dazzling novel about justice, character and fate, set against the backdrop of an American city at war with itself.

You never know what you’ll get when you ask Brad Parks to write a guest post. But, it will probably be funny. The author of Closer Than You Know will be at The Poisoned Pen on Wednesday, March 7 at 7 PM. He’ll be joined by Christopher Rice, author of Bone Music. Signed copies of their books are available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Brad has a few things to say about the event.

*****

I’m a big fan of group signings and an even bigger fan of the Poisoned Pen. So I was thrilled to learn that for my annual visit to Scottsdale’s world famous bookstore, I’d be teamed up with. . .

Wait, what?!?

They want me to appear with Christopher Rice?

Oh hell.

Hell no.

I hate that guy. And when I say hate, I mean it’s deeply, deeply personal. And when I say deeply personal, I mean we’ve barely met. We were introduced briefly at ThrillerFest one year. He probably doesn’t even remember it. So it’s more accurate to say while I go around telling people I’ve met Christopher Rice, he’s like, “Who?” Which is not at all embarrassing for me.

Point is, you can take your Christopher Rice and shove him down a hole; then fill the hole with a thousand hungry rats; then make sure the rats have rabies; then subject him to repeated viewings of White House press briefings, which he then has to retweet with a line of dancing kissy face emojis and the comment, “And that’s no lie!”

That’s how much I hate that guy.

I have this thing going, you see. Me, and some other guys who also write thrillers, we’re what I call Gregg Hurwitzes. A Gregg Hurwitz is young (which is to say: at least ten years from needing our first hip replacement). We’re decent-looking by crime fiction standards (which is to say: neither horribly disfigured nor hunched by a bone-wasting disease). We’re successful (which is to say: the publishing companies are still printing our novels, mostly because they haven’t yet figured out how to replace us with manuscript-writing robots whose egos they don’t need to constantly stroke).

But Christopher Rice? He’s not just young. He’s obnoxiously young. Go ahead. Ask him about what it’s like to turn forty. He’ll just stand there with a coquettish smile because he doesn’t have a clue.

He’s not just decent-looking by crime fiction standards, he’s actually attractive. I mean, yeah, I was once named one of Crime Fiction’s Sexiest Authors by noted book blogger Jen Forbus. Christopher Rice was named one of the Sexiest Men Alive by People Freakin’ Magazine.

And successful? Stop already. By the age of thirty, he had written four New York Times bestsellers. By the age of thirty, I hadn’t even written four complete New York Times crossword puzzles.

Beyond that, he’s charming, polite, a snazzy dresser, a terrific writer, and—by all accounts—a really nice guy. There is absolutely nothing redeeming about him.

I’ll still go to the signing, of course, but only because I live in mortal fear of offending Barbara Peters.

I won’t like it though. I plan to spend the entire event sitting in the corner with a menacing look on my face, muttering thinly veiled threats, seething at that infernal pestilence Christopher Rice.

And that’s no lie.
Brad Parks is an American author of crime fiction who is chiefly known for not being worthy of carrying Christopher Rice’s laptop. Brad’s soon-to-be released next novel, Closer Than You Know, won starred reviews from Kirkus and Library Journal. Nevertheless, he’ll be the tiny, flickering candle sitting next to the supernova that is Christopher Rice when they jointly appear at The Poisoned Pen on March 7.

Way back when I introduced myself, I mentioned I work for a public library. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is one of the books in high demand at the library right now. There’s a waiting list. You can order Michelle McNamara’s book about her search for the Golden State Killer in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2t3lDHt

Here’s the summary of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark.

Introduction by Gillian Flynn
Afterword by Patton Oswalt

“I’ll Be Gone in the Dark will undoubtedly be stocked in the True Crime section, which is fine, but in so many ways it’s a brilliant genre-buster. It’s propulsive, can’t-stop-now reading, which makes it all too easy to ignore the clean and focused writing. 

What readers need to know—what makes this book so special—is that it deals with two obsessions, one light and one dark. The Golden State Killer is the dark half; Michelle McNamara’s is the light half. It’s a journey into two minds, one sick and disordered, the other intelligent and determined. I loved this book.”   —Stephen King

A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer—the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade—from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case.

“You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark.”

For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.

Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called “the Golden State Killer.” Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.

At the time of the crimes, the Golden State Killer was between the ages of eighteen and thirty, Caucasian, and athletic—capable of vaulting tall fences. He always wore a mask. After choosing a victim—he favored suburban couples—he often entered their home when no one was there, studying family pictures, mastering the layout. He attacked while they slept, using a flashlight to awaken and blind them. Though they could not recognize him, his victims recalled his voice: a guttural whisper through clenched teeth, abrupt and threatening.

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Framed by an introduction by Gillian Flynn and an afterword by her husband, Patton Oswalt, the book was completed by Michelle’s lead researcher and a close colleague. Utterly original and compelling, it is destined to become a true crime classic—and may at last unmask the Golden State Kille

Why is Laura Lippman’s latest novel, Sunburn, paired with James M. Cain’s classic The Postman Always Rings Twice? According to Patrick Anderson in The Washington Post, her noir novel is partially inspired by her admiration for Cain’s book. You can find the entire article here. https://wapo.st/2t2v75J

You can order both or either book through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s the summary of Lippman’s Sunburn.

“Every time Laura Lippman comes out with a new book, I get chills because I know I am back in the hands of the master. She is simply a brilliant novelist, an unflinching chronicler of life in America right now, and Sunburn is her dark, gleaming noir gem. Read it.” -Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl

New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman returns with a superb novel of psychological suspense about a pair of lovers with the best intentions and the worst luck: two people locked in a passionate yet uncompromising game of cat and mouse. But instead of rules, this game has dark secrets, forbidden desires, inevitable betrayals—and cold-blooded murder.

One is playing a long game. But which one?

They meet at a local tavern in the small town of Belleville, Delaware. Polly is set on heading west. Adam says he’s also passing through. Yet she stays and he stays—drawn to this mysterious redhead whose quiet stillness both unnerves and excites him. Over the course of a punishing summer, Polly and Adam abandon themselves to a steamy, inexorable affair. Still, each holds something back from the other—dangerous, even lethal, secrets.

Then someone dies. Was it an accident, or part of a plan? By now, Adam and Polly are so ensnared in each other’s lives and lies that neither one knows how to get away—or even if they want to. Is their love strong enough to withstand the truth, or will it ultimately destroy them?

Something—or someone—has to give.

Which one will it be?

Inspired by James M. Cain’s masterpieces The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, and Mildred Pierce, Sunburn is a tantalizing modern noir from the incomparable Laura Lippman.

How about a few thrillers today? Alison Flood recently reviewed three of them for The Guardian. https://bit.ly/2EUpiNt

You can order copies of all of them in the Web Store, although Mick Herron’s London Rules doesn’t come out until June in the U.S.  https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Walter Mosley will be at The Poisoned Pen on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 7 PM to sign his new book, Down the River Unto the Sea. But, even if you can’t be there, you can order a signed copy of the current Hot Book of the Week through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2CHq9es

Here’s the description of Down the River Unto the Sea.

“Mosley writes with great power here about themes that have permeated his work: institutional racism, political corruption, and the ways that both of these issues affect not only society at large but also the inner lives of individual men and women.” —Booklist (starred review)

Did you miss Steven Saylor’s event at The Poisoned Pen the other night? Saylor is the author of the Gordianus the Finder series, and he’s finally addressing the most famous murder in history in The Throne of Caesar. Signed copies are available through the Web Store. They come with  a Poisoned Pen Exclusive Bookmark designed by Steven Saylor. https://bit.ly/2omaEUC

This is an unusual event. Saylor appears at the bookstore along with his long-time editor from St. Martin’s Press, Keith Kahla. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, interviews both of them. And, you can watch it on Livestream. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/8067091

If you haven’t picked up a signed copy of Alafair Burke’s The Wife, you might want to do it now. Check the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2EWOX7t

Here’s the latest news about The Wife.

Amazon Studios Lands Alafair Burke Novel “˜The Wife,’ A Thriller In #MeToo Moment

by Mike Fleming Jr

February 23, 2018 9:24am

 EXCLUSIVE: In a seven-figure deal, Amazon Studios has acquired the rights to the Alafair Burke novel The Wife, with the author set to write the feature script. Published in January by Harper, the novel seems a perfect fit for this #MeToo moment. Book deal is high six figures and scripting fees put it into seven-figures.

Angela, a woman who suffered extreme trauma in her teen years, learns that her celebrity husband may be a sexual predator. Jason Powell is a handsome NYU prof whose book on socially conscious investing called Equalonomics is a raging bestseller. He runs a successful consulting firm and hosts a top-rated podcast that has enabled Angela and her husband to live an idyllic life with their son in Greenwich Village. Then, his intern files a complaint at the NYPD Special Victims Unit claiming he made inappropriate sexual suggestions at the office. A second alleged victim surfaces and soon there is a murder and Angela has to confront past personal trauma she thought was far in the rear view mirror.

Amazon Studios won the book in a bidding battle that involved five suitors.

It is the 13th novel for Burke, the bestselling Edgar Award-nominated author who is a Stanford Law grad and former prosecutor. She’s also a professor of criminal law and procedure at Hofstra University.

Harper Collins president/publisher Jonathan Burnham said in a statement: “We’re thrilled to see Alafair Burke’s new novel take her renown and sales to a new level: it is a narrative that couldn’t be more timely, and a brilliantly twisty tale that shows Burke at her very best.”

The deal was made on behalf of the Philip G. Spitzer Literary Agency by Hotchkiss & Associates.

Rhys Bowen returns to The Poisoned Pen on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 2 PM to discuss and sign her new book, The Tuscan Child. You can order your signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2FooOw6

Exclusive for Poisoned Pen customers! Your copy comes with a special recipe card from Rhys! It contains two recipes from her Tuscan travels. *While supplies last*

Here’s the description.

From New York Times bestselling author Rhys Bowen comes a haunting novel about a woman who braves her father’s hidden past to discover his secrets…

In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal.

Nearly thirty years later, Hugo’s estranged daughter, Joanna, has returned home to the English countryside to arrange her father’s funeral. Among his personal effects is an unopened letter addressed to Sofia. In it is a startling revelation.

Still dealing with the emotional wounds of her own personal trauma, Joanna embarks on a healing journey to Tuscany to understand her father’s history—and maybe come to understand herself as well. Joanna soon discovers that some would prefer the past be left undisturbed, but she has come too far to let go of her father’s secrets now…

*****

And, here’s a sneak preview – the book trailer.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6TLcDNWZPU?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

As I recently mentioned, Donis Casey will be at the Poisoned Pen on Saturday, February 24 at 2 PM, joining fellow authors Dennis Palumbo and Priscilla Royal. Casey is the author of the Alafair Tucker mysteries. Her latest one is Forty Dead Men.

Signed copies of Forty Dead Men are available in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2F9BIwo

Here’s the description of the book.

Some people who have experienced a shocking, dangerous, or terrifying event develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is recognized today as a debilitating but potentially treatable mental health condition. Military veterans are a vulnerable group. But PTSD can deliver a knockout blow to anyone, as the remarkable unfolding of the tenth Alafair Tucker Mystery, Forty Dead Men, shows.

World War I is over. Alafair is overjoyed that her elder son, George Washington Tucker, has finally returned home from the battlefields of France. Yet she is the only one in the family who senses that he has somehow changed.

Gee Dub moves back into his old bunkhouse quarters, but he’s restless and spends his days roaming. One rainy day while out riding he spies a woman trudging along the country road. She’s thoroughly skittish and rejects his help. So Gee Dub cannily rides for home to enlist his mother in offering the exhausted traveler shelter.

Once made comfortable at the Tucker farm, Holly Johnson reveals she’s forged her way from Maine to Oklahoma in hopes of finding the soldier she married before he shipped to France. At the war’s end, Daniel Johnson disappeared without a trace. It’s been months. Is he alive? Is she a widow?

Holly is following her only lead – that Dan has connected with his parents who live yonder in Okmulgee. Gee Dub, desperate for some kind of mission, resolves to shepherd Holly through her quest although the prickly young woman spurns any aid. Meanwhile, Alafair has discovered that Gee Dub sleeps with two cartridge boxes under his pillow – boxes containing twenty “dead men” each. The boxes are empty, save for one bullet. She recognizes in Gee Dub and Holly that not all war wounds are physical.

Then Holly’s missing husband turns up, shot dead. Gee Dub is arrested on suspicion of murder, and the entire extended Tucker family rallies to his defense. He says he had no reason to do it, but the solitary bullet under Gee Dub’s pillow is gone. Regardless, be he guilty or innocent, his mother will travel any distance and go to any lengths to keep him out of prison.

*****

Michael Barson recently interviewed Donis Casey for Bookreporter.com.

Here’s a teaser.

“Question: FORTY DEAD MEN is your 10th Alafair Tucker novel. When you wrote the first book in the series, THE OLD BUZZARD HAD IT COMING, did you ever foresee that you would reach 10 books, and counting?”

“Donis Casey: When I created Alafair and her family, it seemed natural that each book in the series be based around one of Alafair’s nine (and later, 10) children, so I started out with the idea of writing 10 novels. I’m lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to carry on with the series as long as I have. I love historical novels and novels set in exotic locations, because when I read, I like to go to a place and live there for a while. I wanted to write a series of historical mysteries that contained all the things I love to read myself. I wanted the books to have a great deal of humanity, a warm central character, a detailed evocation of the time and place. But in order to make the world as real as I could, I “wrote what I know” — my own family background. Many of the details of farm life, such as using kerosene-soaked corn cobs to start a fire, I learned from my mother, who grew up on a subsistence farm in Oklahoma during the Depression. The characters began as composites of family members, but they have become their own people.

“FORTY DEAD MEN is the 10th book in the series, and now we’ve reached the end of the 1910s. But I can see that there is more of the Tuckers’ story to be told. All kinds of wild things happened in the 1920s that I could use as a basis for a rollicking mystery, so there will be more Alafair Tucker novels in the offing.”

*****

If you want to read the rest of Barson’s interview with Donis Casey, you can find it here. https://bit.ly/2EHCtB2