This week, I have the chance to interview two Poisoned Pen Press debut authors whose books  have just been released. Thomas Kies is the author of Random Road, a mystery that introduces journalist Geneva Chase.

Thomas, please introduce yourself to readers.

My name is Thomas Kies.  During the first week in May, Poisoned Pen Press is releasing my debut novel, RANDOM ROAD.  I’ve worked in various capacities for newspapers and magazines most of my adult life but writing mysteries is something I’ve wanted to do ever since I was a kid.  

When I’m not writing about murder, my day job is President of the Carteret County Chamber of Commerce.  I get to be the cheerleader for this part of coastal North Carolina, which is a great gig.  We have unbelievable beaches, fantastic weather (other than the occasional hurricane), terrific fishing and some of the best restaurants in the state.

I live with my wife Cindy on Bogue Banks, a barrier island here on the coast of North Carolina.   I have three grown children and two grandsons.

Please introduce Geneva Chase.

Geneva Chase is the protagonist of RANDOM ROAD.  Genie is just shy of forty, tall, and attractive enough that it’s not unusual for a man to buy her a drink in a bar. She grew up in Sheffield, Connecticut, a bedroom town to Manhattan, and has worked as a journalist at some of the top newspapers and magazines as well as a short, shame-filled stint with Fox News.  I love her dearly, but Genie has a drinking problem, makes bad choices in men (she’s been married three times) and is a snarky, smart-ass.  

I’m not sure I’d like to spend time with her in real life, but she’s an absolute blast to write.

Without spoilers, tell us about Random Road.

At the very beginning of RANDOM ROAD, six people are found hacked to death in a mansion in an exclusive gated community.  Due to her drinking, Geneva Chase has been reduced to working the crime beat for her hometown newspaper.  She’s hoping that if she can nail this story, it might jump start her career again and get her a job with a major metro daily.

But to do that, she’s got to keep her boozing under control, deal with the married man she can’t quite ditch, and contend with a love affair with her childhood sweetheart. Oh, and not get killed in the process.

I liked Geneva, even with her flaws. Can you give us a hint about the next book? At least I hope there’s a next book!

Geneva Chase finds herself back on the crime beat in DARKNESS LANE.  And that’s about as much as I’m going to tell you at this point, other than the first draft is finished and nobody is who they seem to be.  Oh, and Genie is still a smart-ass.

How did your career working for newspapers and magazines prepare you to write crime fiction?

Working for newspapers and magazines, I had a lot of opportunities to interact with some interesting characters—cops, politicians, artists, and celebrities as well as some very unsavory individuals.   I’ve seen everything from the inside of prison cells to attending fundraisers in some of the most expensive homes on the Gold Coast of Connecticut, been in the kitchens of some of the most exclusive restaurants in New York, backstage at Broadway shows, and seen the inside of brothels and sex clubs. It was an education in the interesting and the bizarre.

What was the most unusual story you covered or wrote during your career?

I can’t say anything specifically about the most unusual story I’ve come in contact with, but I’m always amazed at the efforts some people will go to get money illegally—stealing from charities, embezzling from their employer, taking money from their elderly parents, hiding money from the IRS. And surprisingly, some of the most outrageous crimes are committed by some very wealthy individuals—people who literally don’t need the money.

You currently live on a barrier island off the coast of North Carolina.  Where do you take people when they come to visit you?

This is a tourist area so it’s not difficult to entertain people when they come to visit.  They love the beaches, the museums, the aquarium, outdoor concerts, and we have world class restaurants and chefs here on the Crystal Coast.  Did I tell you I’m the President of the Chamber of Commerce?

What authors inspired you?

I’d be remiss if I didn’t start with Arthur Conan Doyle.  And when I was much younger, I was hooked on the Travis McGee novels by John D. MacDonald as well as the James Bond series by Ian Fleming.  And of course, I love Jonathan Kellerman, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Michael Connelly and the list could go on and on. And I don’t want to leave out the grand masters—Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Elmore Leonard.

What’s on your TBR pile?

In addition to mysteries, I love history.  I’m in the process of reading SPQR-A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard.  But I’m looking forward to reading Annie Hogsett’s debut novel—Too Lucky to Live as well as the crime anthology Bound by Mystery edited by Diane DiBiase.  I’m looking forward to meeting Annie and Diane in May when I’m in Phoenix.

What author would you like to recommend who you think has been underappreciated?

I like writers’ conferences because I get to meet writers I haven’t yet had a chance to read.  I’m not sure that makes them underappreciated but I enjoyed discovering Joe Clifford, D.P. Lyle, and Tim Maleeny, all of whom I met at a conference in California. I’d highly recommend their work.

Thank you, Thomas. Thomas Kies’ website is https://thomaskiesauthor.com/

Kies will be appearing at The Poisoned Pen on Sunday, May 7 at 2 PM as part of Poisoned Pen Press’ 20th Anniversary celebration.  Random Road is available through the Web Store, if you’d like to order a copy of this debut. https://bit.ly/2ploZ5l

 

Jeff Guinn’s The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple is the current Hot Title of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. We have signed copies in the Web Store if you would like to order one. https://bit.ly/2pEeaMm

Here’s the description:

By the New York Times bestselling author of Manson, the comprehensive, authoritative, and tragic story of preacher Jim Jones, who was responsible for the Jonestown Massacre—the largest murder-suicide in American history.

In the 1950s, a young Indianapolis minister named Jim Jones preached a curious blend of the gospel and Marxism. His congregation was racially integrated, and he was a much-lauded leader in the contemporary civil rights movement. Eventually, Jones moved his church, Peoples Temple, to northern California. He became involved in electoral politics, and soon was a prominent Bay Area leader.

In this riveting narrative, Jeff Guinn examines Jones’s life, from his extramarital affairs, drug use, and fraudulent faith healing to the fraught decision to move almost a thousand of his followers to a settlement in the jungles of Guyana in South America. Guinn provides stunning new details of the events leading to the fatal day in November, 1978 when more than nine hundred people died—including almost three hundred infants and children—after being ordered to swallow a cyanide-laced drink.

Guinn examined thousands of pages of FBI files on the case, including material released during the course of his research. He traveled to Jones’s Indiana hometown, where he spoke to people never previously interviewed, and uncovered fresh information from Jonestown survivors. He even visited the Jonestown site with the same pilot who flew there the day that Congressman Leo Ryan was murdered on Jones’s orders. The Road to Jonestown is the definitive book about Jim Jones and the events that led to the tragedy at Jonestown.

It’s been four years since Dana Stabenow brought us a new Kate Shugak mystery. Here’s the summary of Less Than a Treason.

Two thousand people go missing in Alaska every year. They vanish in the middle of mountain footraces, on fishing boats in the Bering Sea, on small planes in the Bush. Now a geologist known for going walkabout with his rock hammer has disappeared from the Suulutaq Mine in the Park. Was it deliberate? An accident? Foul play? Kate Shugak may be the only person who can find out.

But for the fact that Kate, too, is among the missing…

*****

Stabenow will be here at The Poisoned Pen on Saturday, May 6 at 2 PM. We’re ready!

You can order signed copies of Less Than a Treason through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2qcNXEH

Mystery Writers of America presented the 2017 Edgar Allan Poe Awards last night. Congratulations to all of the winners.

BEST NOVEL
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley (Hachette Book Group ““ Grand Central Publishing)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry (Penguin Random House ““ Penguin Books)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty (Prometheus Books ““ Seventh Street Books)

BEST FACT CRIME
The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer by Kate Summerscale (Penguin Random House ““ Penguin Press)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL
Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin (W.W. Norton – Liveright)

BEST SHORT STORY
“Autumn at the Automat” ““ In Sunlight or in Shadow by Lawrence Block (Pegasus Books)

BEST JUVENILE
OCDaniel by Wesley King (Simon & Schuster ““ Paula Wiseman Books)

BEST YOUNG ADULT
Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse (Hachette Book Group ““ Little, Brown BFYR)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY
“A Blade of Grass” ““ Penny Dreadful, Teleplay by John Logan (Showtime)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD
“The Truth of the Moment” ““ Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine  by E. Gabriel Flores (Dell Magazines)

GRAND MASTER
Max Allan Collins
Ellen Hart

RAVEN AWARD
Dru Ann Love

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD 
Neil Nyren

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER – MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
The Shattered Tree by Charles Todd (HarperCollins Publishers ““ William Morrow)

Don’t forget to check the Web Store if you’re looking for one of the winners! https://store.poisonedpen.com/

It’s not too early to remind you that The Poisoned Pen will be hosting author Cory Doctorow on Friday, May 12, for an interview by Brian David Johnson, ASU Futurist-in-Residence.

Why am I reminding you right now? Doctorow, author of Walkaway, recently had a discussion with Jeff  VanderMeer at ElectricLiterature.com. The article was entitled,

“Jeff VanderMeer & Cory Doctorow Discuss the Future of Sci-Fi & the World”

“Two modern masters talk biotech, climate change, activism & how sci-fi genre sensibilities have changed.”

Here’s the link to that article. https://bit.ly/2oMNOE4

As mentioned, Doctorow will appear Friday, May 12 at 7 PM at the Doubletree Hilton, 5401 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale, AZ 85250. It’s free to attend, but a book must be purchased from The Poisoned Pen to get it signed. Doors open at 6:30, and the program starts at 7 PM.

If you can’t make it to the event, you can always buy a signed copy of Walkaway through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2pmNgb8

John Sandford, author of the new Lucas Davenport novel, Golden Prey, and David Joy, author of The Weight of This World, appeared at The Poisoned Pen for an evening filled with discussion of culture, politics, and books.

Hopefully, you’re familiar with John Sandford’s Prey series. But, you might not know David Joy’s work. Here’s the description of The Weight of This World.

Critically acclaimed author David Joy, whose debut, Where All Light Tends to Go, was hailed as “a savagely moving novel that will likely become an important addition to the great body of Southern literature” (The Huffington Post), returns to the mountains of North Carolina with a powerful story about the inescapable weight of the past.

A combat veteran returned from war, Thad Broom can’t leave the hardened world of Afghanistan behind, nor can he forgive himself for what he saw there. His mother, April, is haunted by her own demons, a secret trauma she has carried for years. Between them is Aiden McCall, loyal to both but unable to hold them together. Connected by bonds of circumstance and duty, friendship and love, these three lives are blown apart when Aiden and Thad witness the accidental death of their drug dealer and a riot of dope and cash drops in their laps. On a meth-fueled journey to nowhere, they will either find the grit to overcome the darkness or be consumed by it.

*****

You can watch the discussion, led by Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, on Livestream. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/7204535

If you would like to order signed copies of the books, they’re available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Ann Cleeves just appeared at The Poisoned Pen while on book tour for her seventh Shetland Island mystery, Cold Earth.

Here’s the summary of the book.

In the dark days of a Shetland winter, torrential rain triggers a landslide that crosses the main road and sweeps down to the sea.

At the burial of his old friend Magnus Tait, Jimmy Perez watches the flood of mud and water smash through a house in its path. Everyone thinks the home is uninhabited, but in the wreckage he finds the body of a dark-haired woman wearing a red silk dress. He soon becomes obsessed with tracing her identity. Perez knows he must find out who she was and how she died.

*****

The audience watched TV video excerpts from Shetland, based on Cleeves’ series. And, Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, interviewed Ann Cleeves.

If you’d like a signed copy of Cold Earth, check out the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2otbj97

Isabella Maldonado is the author of the debut mystery, Blood’s Echo. It’s not that a debut author doesn’t need an introduction. But Maldonado’s personal story is so fascinating that I’ll let her answer the questions. You should read her answers

Isabella, would you introduce yourself to the readers?

My journey to publication took a 22-year detour. I always planned to write, but also wanted to be a police officer. I joined the force right out of college and, over two decades later, retired at the rank of captain. While on the department, I was a patrol officer, hostage negotiator, spokesperson, and recruit instructor at the police academy.  After being promoted, I was a patrol sergeant and lieutenant. Finally, as a captain, I commanded the Special Investigations and Forensics Division, Gang Council, Public Information Office, and a patrol precinct with over 130 officers, detectives and civilian employees.

One of my most memorable experiences was graduating from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, which involved eleven weeks of physically and mentally challenging study for law enforcement executives from around the world.

After retiring and moving to Arizona in 2010, I joined the Sisters in Crime Desert Sleuths Chapter with the goal of embarking on a second career as a crime fiction writer. For five years, I studied writing and published three short stories. In 2015, at the annual “Write Now!” conference in Scottsdale, I pitched to Terri Bischoff, Acquiring Editor for Midnight Ink, and was subsequently offered a three-book deal. The first book in the Veranda Cruz series, Blood’s Echo, debuted in March and is now available in hardcover, paperback, and digital formats. I’m finalizing edits on book two while writing book three…still have to pinch myself!

Tell us about Blood’s Echo, without spoilers.

Detective Veranda Cruz is on a mission to bring down the Villalobos cartel. Not content to simply sell drugs, the sprawling criminal empire engages in human trafficking, computer crimes, money laundering, and illegal weapons. Every cop wants to put cuffs on Bartolo Villalobos, but Veranda is determined to see him behind bars for her own reasons.

After a two-year investigation, she’s on the verge of success, but her quarry is one step ahead of her. Bartolo not only evades her trap, but unearths Veranda’s secret and uses it against her. As she races to solve the mystery of Bartolo’s power, she’s thrown into the path of a hot arson investigator and an overzealous Internal Affairs sergeant.

Veranda is surrounded by a large, loving family and shares a special bond with her mother, who sacrificed everything to give her a better life. Horrified, Veranda learns the consequences of her determination to end the Villalobos family’s stranglehold on Phoenix when those she loves are put squarely in their crosshairs. As Bartolo closes in, Veranda draws on her experience as an undercover detective to make the most heart-wrenching decision of her life.

You’ve kicked off a new police procedural series with Blood’s Echo. Can you give us some hints about the second book?

The second book picks up six weeks after Blood’s Echo ends. The wild ride from the first story creates repercussions for the characters, and the second installment continues their journey.

As firstborn son, Adolfo Villalobos seeks his rightful place at the helm of the cartel, but must prove himself to his own family. Sensing weakness, rival crime bosses encroach on his territory. When Veranda goes after him, he’s fighting on three fronts and lashes out, cutting a swath of destruction through downtown Phoenix and making national headlines. The FBI, along with an alphabet soup of federal agencies, creates an inter-agency minefield Veranda must navigate.

Veranda’s career, relationship with her family, and inner strength are tested to the breaking point as she pursues a murderous crime boss who’s determined not just to kill her, but to utterly humiliate and destroy her.

Why did you decide to write crime fiction?

As a cop, I had to delve into the psyche of both perpetrators and victims to conduct investigations. I want to give readers a peek into what police do and how much it costs them and their families. So often, what we see on television or in movies is far from reality. Some of this is by necessity due to the constraints of the medium, but novels lend themselves to a more complete portrayal. I owe it to my fellow law enforcement officers to be relentlessly authentic, and that’s what I’ve endeavored to do.

Readers will undoubtedly think of your career when they think of Veranda. What was your most unusual experience that you can tell us about?

When I was a uniform patrol officer early in my career, a detective asked me to help him serve a burglary arrest warrant. When we arrived at the suspect’s apartment, which was little more than a tenement, we found him with his wife and two-year-old son. It was near the holidays, and the young father hadn’t told his family the presents he’d gotten for them were stolen. He’d broken into a business office and taken a stereo for his wife and an enormous stuffed bear for his son.

When we entered the apartment, I was shocked to see they had no furniture. They all slept together on a mattress on the floor and ate at a rickety card table. The stolen items were the only other things in the tiny apartment. As his wife sobbed, the man came to me, head bowed, and held out his wrists.

The little boy watched as I handcuffed his father. The detective retrieved the stereo, and directed me to confiscate the bear, which was not only stolen property, but evidence. My stomach twisting into knots, I approached the toddler, who clutched the bear as tears rolled down his face. I had just taken his father, and now I would take his only toy. He wouldn’t let go, and his mother was too hysterical to help.

I had to gently pry the teddy bear out of his little arms. My efforts to console him were useless. I realized that this is what the child would think of the police. That we were monsters who took away his daddy and his only toy. This was not why I became a cop, and I had to make it right.

After we booked the father, I asked my captain for permission to purchase a big stuffed bear and take it to the child as a replacement. An hour later, I knocked at the door of the apartment holding the biggest stuffed teddy bear I could find at the local toy store. When I walked in, the boy was playing with an empty toothpaste tube. His mother had nothing else to give him.

What happened next changed everything. My captain contacted a reporter with the Washington Post, who subsequently interviewed me about what happened. The next day, the story ran as a feature in the Metro section. It was meant to be a story about a tender-hearted cop (and I took some ribbing from my fellow officers about it), but it morphed into something much more significant.

Gifts for the family began appearing at our police station. People brought toys, food, furniture, books, and clothing for the family. Over the next few days, the pile grew until we had to use the conference room to hold the donated items. Television news got wind of the story and sent camera crews to cover the outpouring from the community.

It soon became apparent there was more than enough for the small family in their little apartment. I spoke to the mother, who readily agreed, and we made arrangements to share the items with other needy families in the building. A moving company volunteered to transport what was now a trailer full of goods to the complex, where many low-income families were able to have books to read, eat healthy food, and sleep in a real bed for the first time.

So many impoverished children and their families ended up having an amazing Christmas that year. The father served a short sentence, and promised to find a way to provide for his family that didn’t involve theft. To this day, when Christmas rolls around, I think of that family and how the whole community rallied to support them. I’m also grateful for one little boy who won’t think of the police as heartless.

What authors have inspired you?

As a child, the first book that blew my mind was A Wrinkle in Time. The idea that a writer could transport me to another dimension amazed me.

When I was a police lieutenant, a senior patrol officer in his fifties recommended the Harry Potter series…how could I resist? That began a love affair with all things JK Rowling (and Robert Gilbraith) that still goes on to this day.

As a female crime writer, I owe a lot to Sara Paretsky. Not only did she pave the way for other women to break into a traditionally male-dominated genre, she also helped found Sisters in Crime. I have been a member for seven years, and served as the Phoenix chapter president in 2015. One of my highlights was meeting Ms. Paretsky, who came to speak at our annual conference that year.

Other than your own, name several books you would never part with.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Black Echo by Michael Connelly, One for the Money by Janet Evanovich, The Stand by Stephen King, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling, and You are a Badass by Jen Sincero.

What’s on your TBR (To Be Read) pile?

Unsub, by Meg Gardiner, A Reek of Red Herrings by Catriona McPherson, Carved in Stone by Maegan Beaumont, The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian, Pandora’s Legion by Harold Coyle and Barrett Tillman, Paying the Piper by Simon Wood, and The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter.

You live in my favorite state, Arizona. What’s your favorite place to take visitors when they come?

If the visitor is outdoorsy, there’s nothing more spectacular than the red rocks of Sedona or the Grand Canyon. If the visitor is the type who likes to be pampered, the spa at the Phoenician Resort is truly in a class by itself. But no trip to Arizona would be complete without eating at the best authentic Mexican restaurant in the state: The Barrio Queen in Scottsdale.

 

You can find signed copies of Isabella Maldonado’s Blood’s Echo through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2pegskC

 

The Poisoned Pen’s CozyCon is an afternoon of authors, panels, discussions, and refreshments. There are lots of photos here. And, there are even more pictures on The Poisoned Pen’s Pinterest site, courtesy of Cathy Cole. https://www.pinterest.com/poisonedpenbks/cozycon-2017/

What do authors do before an event? Hang out in the green room, or, in this case, the newly remodeled addition space that The Pen took over.

Now for the event –

And, one last photo because it’s a great picture of Cathy Cole, who does the Pinterest site and some of the social media for The Poisoned Pen.

Looking for mysteries? Check out the Web Store and look for the authors who participated in CozyCon. https://store.poisonedpen.com

The latest Memory Man novel, David Baldacci’s The Fix, is The Poisoned Pen’s Hot Book of the Week.

Here’s the summary.

Amos Decker witnesses a murder just outside FBI headquarters. A man shoots a woman execution-style on a crowded sidewalk, then turns the gun on himself.

Even with Decker’s extraordinary powers of observation and deduction, the killing is baffling. Decker and his team can find absolutely no connection between the shooter–a family man with a successful consulting business–and his victim, a schoolteacher. Nor is there a hint of any possible motive for the attack.

Enter Harper Brown. An agent of the Defense Intelligence Agency, she orders Decker to back off the case. The murder is part of an open DIA investigation, one so classified that Decker and his team aren’t cleared for it.

But they learn that the DIA believes solving the murder is now a matter of urgent national security. Critical information may have been leaked to a hostile government–or worse, an international terrorist group–and an attack may be imminent.

Decker’s never been one to follow the rules, especially with the stakes so high. Forced into an uneasy alliance with Agent Brown, Decker remains laser focused on only one goal: solving the case before it’s too late.

*****

Would you like a signed copy of David Baldacci’s latest? You can order The Fix through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2oUM6Tr