Barbara Peters and Patrick Millikin tag teamed to talk with Dame Denise Mina. Her new books are Three Fires and The Second Murderer. You can order them through the Webstore. https://tinyurl.com/2p835rvm

Denise Mina is the New York Times bestselling author of The End of the Wasp Season and Gods and Beasts. Her recent novel Conviction was chosen as a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick. Rizzio is her latest novel published by Pegasus Crime. She is a regular contributor on the subject of crime fiction for television and radio. Denise lives in Glasgow.

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Here’s the summary of Three Fires.

From the award-winning master of crime fiction, Denise Mina re-imagines the “Bonfire of the Vanities,” a series of fires lit throughout Florence at the end of the fifteenth century—inspired by the fanatical Girolamo Savonarola.

Girolamo Savonarola was a Dominican friar living in Florence at the end of the fifteenth century. An anti-corruption campaigner, his hellfire preaching increasingly spilled over into tirades against all luxuries that tempted his followers toward sin. These sermons led to the infamous “Bonfire of the Vanities”—a series of fires lit throughout Florence for the incineration of everything from books, extravagant clothing, playing cards, musical instruments, make-up, and mirrors to paintings, tapestries, and sculptures.

Railing against the vice and avarice of the ruling Medici family, he was instrumental in their removal from power—and for a short time became the puritanical leader of the city. After turning his attention to corruption within the Catholic Church, he was first excommunicated and then executed by a combination of hanging and being burned at the stake.

Just as in Rizzio—her latest novel with Pegasus Crime—Denise Mina brings a modern take to this fascinating historical story, drawing parallels between the febrile atmosphere of medieval Florence and the culture wars of the present day. In dramatizing the life and last days of Savonarola, she explores the downfall of the original architect of cancel culture and, in the process, explores the never-ending tensions between wealth, inequality, and freedom of speech that so dominate our modern world.

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Here’s the description of Mina’s The Second Murderer.

Philip Marlowe is on the hunt for a missing heiress—and up against a rival PI—in this smart and atmospheric authorized mystery from acclaimed crime writer and “one-of-a-kind storyteller” Denise Mina (James Patterson), the first woman to recreate Raymond Chandler’s infamous detective.

Has Philip Marlowe finally met his match?

It’s early fall when a heatwave descends on Los Angeles. Private Detective Philip Marlowe is called to the Montgomery estate, an almost mythic place sitting high on top of Beverly Hills. Wealthy socialite Chrissie Montgomery is missing. Young, naïve, and set to inherit an enormous fortune, she’s a walking target, ripe for someone to get their claws into. Her dying father and his sultry bottle-blonde girlfriend want her found before that happens. To make sure, they’ve got Anne Riordan—now head of her own all-female detective agency—on the case, too.

The search for Chrissie takes the two investigators from the Montgomery mansion to the roughest neighborhoods of LA, through dive bars and boarding houses and out to Skid Row. And that’s all before they find the body at The Brody Hotel. Who will get to Chrissie first? And what happens when a woman doesn’t want to be found?

In The Second Murderer, Denise Mina becomes the first woman to recreate Raymond Chandler’s infamous detective, delivering a clever and timely new take on Philip Marlowe, as well as a propulsive, dark, and witty mystery all its own.

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Enjoy the conversation with Denise Mina.

Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen recently welcomed David Joy for an event. The Webstore has signed copies of Joy’s new book, Those We Thought We Knew. https://bit.ly/3Kiscva

Here’s the summary of Those We Thought We Knew.

“A beautifully fearless contemplation.” –S. A. Cosby

From award-winning writer David Joy comes a searing new novel about the cracks that form in a small North Carolina community and the evils that unfurl from its center.

Toya Gardner, a young Black artist from Atlanta, has returned to her ancestral home in the North Carolina mountains to trace her family history and complete her graduate thesis. But when she encounters a still-standing Confederate monument in the heart of town, she sets her sights on something bigger.

Meanwhile, local deputies find a man sleeping in the back of a station wagon and believe him to be nothing more than some slack-jawed drifter. Yet a search of the man’s vehicle reveals that he is a high-ranking member of the Klan, and the uncovering of a notebook filled with local names threatens to turn the mountain on end.

After two horrific crimes split the county apart, every soul must wrestle with deep and unspoken secrets that stretch back for generations. Those We Thought We Knew is an urgent unraveling of the dark underbelly of a community. Richly drawn and bracingly honest, it asks what happens when the people you’ve always known turn out to be monsters, what do you do when everything you ever believed crumbles away.

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David Joy is the author of When These Mountains Burn (winner of the 2020 Dashiell Hammett Award), The Line That Held Us (winner of the 2018 SIBA Book Prize), The Weight of This World, and Where All Light Tends to Go (Edgar finalist for Best First Novel). Joy lives in Tuckasegee, North Carolina.

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You can tell Joy and Millikin like to talk together. Enjoy the conversation.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Michael Koryta and Spencer Quinn for a live event at the bookstore. Michael Koryta’s latest book is An Honest Man. Spencer Quinn kicks off a new series with Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge. There are signed copies of both books available in the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s the description of An Honest Man.

“Michael Koryta’s best book” (Stephen King) opens with a yacht full of bodies, a woman hiding from killers on a nearby island, and a man trying to prove his innocence and save his life—in a breathtaking thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Those Who Wish Me Dead.Israel Pike was a killer, and he was an honest man. They were not mutually exclusive.

After discovering seven men murdered aboard their yacht – including two Senate rivals – Israel Pike is regarded as a prime suspect. A troubled man infamous on Salvation Point Island for killing his own father a decade before, Israel has few options, no friends, and a life-threatening secret.

Elsewhere on the island, 12-year-old Lyman Rankin seeks shelter from his alcoholic father in an abandoned house only to discover that he is not alone. A mysterious woman greets him with a hatchet and a promise: “Make a sound and I’ll kill you.”

As the investigation barrels forward, Lyman, Israel, and the fate of the case collide in immutable ways. Written with mounting suspense, stirring emotion, and deep understanding of character, Koryta continues to prove why David Baldacci has called him “an exceptionally gifted storyteller” and Michael Connelly has deemed him “one of the best of the best, plain and simple.”

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Michael Koryta is the New York Times bestselling author of seventeen novels—including Those Who Wish Me Dead, which has been adapted into a film starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Taylor Sheridan. His previous novels were New York Times notable books, national bestsellers, and have won numerous awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Koryta is a former private investigator and newspaper reporter. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana, and Camden, Maine.

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Here’s the summary of Spencer Quinn’s Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge.

Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge is bestselling author Spencer Quinn’s first novel in a new series since the meteoric launch of Chet and Bernie–introducing the irresistible and unforgettable Mrs. Plansky, in a story perfect for book clubs and commercial fiction readers.

Mrs. Loretta Plansky, a recent widow in her seventies, is settling into retirement in Florida while dealing with her 98-year-old father and fielding requests for money from her beloved children and grandchildren. Thankfully, her new hip hasn’t changed her killer tennis game one bit.

One night Mrs. Plansky is startled awake by a phone call from a voice claiming to be her grandson Will, who desperately needs ten thousand dollars to get out of a jam. Of course, Loretta obliges—after all, what are grandmothers for, even grandmothers who still haven’t gotten a simple “thank you” for a gift sent weeks ago. Not that she’s counting.

By morning, Mrs. Plansky has lost everything. Law enforcement announces that Loretta’s life savings have vanished, and that it’s hopeless to find the scammers behind the heist. First humiliated, then furious, Loretta Plansky refuses to be just another victim.

In a courageous bid for justice, Mrs. Plansky follows her only clue on a whirlwind adventure to a small village in Romania to get her money and her dignity back—and perhaps find a new lease on life, too.

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Spencer Quinn is the pen name for Peter Abrahams, the Edgar-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Chet and Bernie mystery series, as well as the #1 New York Times bestselling Bowser and Birdie series for middle-grade readers. He lives on Cape Cod with his wife Diana and with his dogs Pearl and Dottie.

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Enjoy the conversation and the laughter.

It’s hard to believe it’s almost August. The Poisoned Pen has a full slate of authors appearing, either in person, or virtually. Check the schedule, and then check the Webstore for their books. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Michael Barson recently interviewed Robert J. Lloyd, author of The Poison Machine, for http://Bookreporter.com. Once you read the interview, you might be interested in ordering the book through the Webstore, https://bit.ly/3YdH8jR.

Here’s the interview, used with permission from Barson.

Newly released in paperback, THE POISON MACHINE is the thrilling sequel to Robert J. Lloyd’s THE BLOODLESS BOY, which was a New York Times Best New Historical Novel of 2021. This time, early scientists Harry Hunt and Robert Hooke of the Royal Society stumble on a plot to kill the Queen of England. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, Lloyd explains how his approach to historical research changed between books one and two, gives us his thoughts on reading reviews of his work, and previews the next two entries in the Hunt & Hooke series — the third installment of which will release in the spring of 2024.

Question: When you wrote THE POISON MACHINE, you expanded upon the 17th-century universe of protagonists Harry Hunt and Robert Hooke that you created in your first novel, THE BLOODLESS BOY. Now both England and France share the stage as major settings for the action. What might a third country of interest be for you to utilize during that same Restoration period?

Robert J. Lloyd: The third book in the series — THE BEDLAM CADAVER — is very London-bound, perhaps as a reaction to all that research I had to do for 17th-century Paris! I’m still at the planning stage for book four, but I intend to take Harry to Amsterdam. (So, to answer your question properly, the Dutch Republic.) That way, he gets to meet two contemporaries who were correspondents with, as well as rivals to, Robert Hooke. These are Antony van Leeuwenhoek and Christiaan Huygens, microscopist and astronomer respectively. (Hooke was both.) I’d also like an appearance from Baruch Spinoza, who wasn’t well known in his own lifetime, but who influenced philosophy greatly later on. (Harry’s views, strangely enough, often coincide with Spinoza’s.)

Q: The historical research that has gone into these novels is impressive. For THE POISON MACHINE, did you have to alter course at any point in the story because you realized you had been operating on a faulty assumption about 17th-century life in England and France?

RJL: I didn’t really, because I allowed myself more freedom when planning and writing THE POISON MACHINE than with THE BLOODLESS BOY. I embraced the “fiction” part of historical fiction far more and was less pedantic about historical accuracy, especially in the science, or “new philosophy.” Hooke’s diary and Philosophical Transactions are full of tantalizing glimpses of experiments that were suggested at the time, either by Hooke or by another of the Royal Society Fellows, or performed once and never developed. So it’s possible, I think, to posit Harry as being ahead of the historical record as far as his experimental trials, or the villain with his development of a poison based on hydrogen cyanide, which is usually stated to have been discovered 70 or so years later.

Q: Can you name a few of the novels you’ve read featuring the scientific knowledge of the Restoration period that may have inspired you to utilize that background when you began writing historical fiction?

RJL: When I started, I think the only two authors who used Restoration science in their plots were Neal Stephenson (with his Baroque Cycle) and Iain Pears (with his AN INSTANCE OF THE FINGERPOST). But there were other books that inspired me to write historical fiction more. Anything by Barry Unsworth, who I think is the master, and particularly Lawrence Norfolk’s LEMPRIÈRE’S DICTIONARY, which is the book I finished reading and said, “I want to write one of these.”

Q: THE POISON MACHINE and your first book, THE BLOODLESS BOY, have received a wealth of positive reviews from both sides of the Atlantic. Are you the kind of author who gets nervous anticipating a new book’s reviews? Or do you make an effort to simply ignore them?

RJL: When the first reviews came in, I was very thin-skinned and took to heart every criticism, whether constructively meant or not. Then I realized that the reviews were contradictory. Some people loved the level of detail in the books; others thought it slowed down the plots too much. Some found the plots rich and rewarding; others found them confusing. Some found them slow burners; others said they were immediately gripped. Some found the characters dull; others were enthralled by them. Some hate the 17th-century dialogue and terms I use; others love them. So I began to relax about reviews. It’s great when someone enjoys the stories I write, and it’s a shame if they don’t get on with them. But I’ve created a particular world that pleases me, and that has to be my main guide.

Q: The Hunt & Hooke series now will move on to the third book, THE BEDLAM CADAVER, which will appear in the spring of 2024. Do you intend to keep the series continuing indefinitely? Or would you like your writing to move in a different direction sometime in the near future?

RJL: I’m lucky that the 1680s was a particularly busy time, so there are loads of events that can impact Harry Hunt and Robert Hooke and with which they can involve themselves. Whether willingly or unwillingly. I’m still very attracted to my two main characters and certainly not tired of them yet. As Harry is a young man, his character — an old-fashioned word, I know — changes the most. Hooke is a bit more set in his ways. I also like the way their relationship changes over time. There’s a big shock, relationship-wise, in THE BEDLAM CADAVER!

One thread I need to resolve, which has run through all three books in the series, is the Popish Plot and what happens to the two perjurers, Titus Oates and Israel Tonge. That’s for book four, I think.

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Check out the description of The Poison Machine.

“Lloyd once again infuses his world with the sights, sounds, and smells of the late 17th century…for what’s bound to be one of the best historical novels of the year.” — CrimeReads

In a thrilling sequel to The Bloodless Boy —a New York Times Best New Historical Novel of 2021 — combining the color and adventure of Alexandre Dumas and the thrills of Frederick Forsyth — early scientists Harry Hunt and Robert Hooke of the Royal Society stumble on a plot to kill the Queen of England . . .

London, 1679 — A year has passed since the sensational attempt to murder King Charles II, but London is still a viper’s nest of rumored Catholic conspiracies, and of plots against them in turn. When Harry Hunt — estranged from his mentor Robert Hooke — is summoned to the remote and windswept marshes of Norfolk, he is at first relieved to get away from the place.

But in Norfolk, he finds that some Royal workers shoring up a riverbank have made a grim discovery — the skeleton of a dwarf. Harry is able to confirm that the skeleton is that of Captain Jeffrey Hudson, a prominent member of the court once famously given to the Queen in a pie. Except no one knew Hudson was dead, because another man had been impersonating him.

The hunt for the impersonator, clearly working as a spy, will take Harry to Paris, another city bedeviled by conspiracies and intrigues, and back, with encounters along the way with a flying man and a cross-dressing swordswoman — and to the uncovering of a plot to kill the Queen and all the Catholic members of her court. But where? When?

The Poison Machine is a nail-biting and brilliantly imagined historical thriller that will delight readers of its critically acclaimed predecessor, The Bloodless Boy.

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Robert Lloyd, the son of parents who worked in British Foreign Office, grew up in South London, Innsbruck, and Kinshasa. He studied for a Fine Art degree, starting as a landscape painter, but while studying for MA degree in The History of Ideas that he first read Robert Hooke’s diary, detailing the life and experiments of this extraordinary man. After a 20-year career as a secondary school teacher, he has returned to painting and writing. Author of The Bloodless Boy, which was selected by Publishers Weekly as a Mystery Book of the Year and The New York Times as a Best New Historical Novel of 2021.

Signed copies of Sandra Brown’s Out of Nowhere are on the way to The Poisoned Pen. You can order a copy through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/475R8Q5

Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, admits Out of Nowhere is a difficult book to discuss without spoilers. It’s a book that features a mass shooting, but Brown said she can’t talk too much about the connection in the story. It sounds as if we need to read the book to learn more.

Here’s the description of Out of Nowhere.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown returns with a fast-paced, emotional thriller where the lives of a young mother and a high-rolling consultant collide under devastating circumstances—culminating in a desperate manhunt that will change their futures forever.

At a Texas county fair, amidst carousels and a bustling midway, children’s book author Elle Portman is enjoying a rare night out with her favorite cowboy: her two-year-old son, Charlie. But just as they’re about to head home, the unthinkable happens: a shooter opens fire into the crowd, causing widespread panic to erupt all around them.

Also caught in the melee was corporate consultant Calder Hudson. Arrogant, self-centered, and high off his latest career win, he’s frustrated and confused when he wakes up in the hospital after undergoing emergency surgery on his arm.  The doctor tells him that he was lucky—that as far as gunshot wounds go, he pulled through remarkably well.  Others weren’t so lucky, which instills in Calder a furious determination to get justice . . . a goal shared by Elle.

Their chance encounter at the police station leads to a surprising and inexplicable gravitation to one another, but even as the attraction grows, Elle and Calder can’t help but wonder if the unimaginable tragedy that brought them together is too painful and too complicated to sustain—especially while the shooter remains at large.

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Sandra Brown is the author of seventy-five New York Times bestsellers. There are more than eighty million copies of her books in print worldwide, and her work has been translated into thirty-four languages. Four of her books have been made into films. In 2008, the International Thriller Writers named Brown its Thriller Master, the organization’s highest honor. She has served as president of Mystery Writers of America and holds an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Texas Christian University. She lives in Texas.

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There are some connectivity issues with the video, but you’ll want to hear the conversation.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed a plethora of authors for an event, including guest host Don Bentley. Brian Freeman is the author of Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Defiance. Brandon Webb and John David Mann are the authors of Blind Fear. You can order signed copies of both books through the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Check out the summary of Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Defiance.

Someone’s killing Treadstone agents and Jason Bourne may be next on the list in this latest electrifying entry in Robert Ludlum’s #1 New York Times bestselling series.

From the glacial waters of Alaska to a sexy nightclub in the Bahamas, Treadstone agents are being hunted down and murdered. Someone high up in the U.S. government will stop at nothing to cover up a secret Treadstone mission from the past known as Defiance.

With a team of killers hot on his trail, Jason Bourne chases the mystery of Defiance around the world. But as he closes in on the shocking truth, Bourne realizes that one man holds the key—his archenemy, the assassin known as Lennon.  The Russian hitman has been at the heart of Defiance from the very beginning, and his next target will put Bourne —and the woman he loves—in the cross-hairs.

As Bourne races to stop the ruthless conspiracy behind Defiance, he must come face to face with Lennon one last time—and the stage is set for a final violent showdown.

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Brian Freeman is a bestselling author of more than twenty thrillers, including the Jonathan Stride series and three previous Jason Bourne novels, Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Evolution, Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Treachery, and Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Sacrifice. His stand-alone novel The Deep, Deep Snow was an Edgar Award finalist and New York Times bestseller, and his novel Spilled Blood won the ITW Thriller Award for Best Hardcover Novel. Find out more about his books at bfreemanbooks.com.
 
Robert Ludlum was the author of twenty-seven novels, each one a New York Times bestseller. There are more than 225 million of his books in print, and they have been translated into thirty-two languages. He is the author of The Scarlatti Inheritance, The Chancellor Manuscript, and the Jason Bourne series–The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum–among others. Mr. Ludlum passed away in March 2001.

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Here’s the description of Blind Fear.

Haunted by the death of his best friend and hunted by the FBI for war crimes he didn’t commit, Finn lands on an island paradise that turns into his own personal hell in this gripping follow-up to Steel Fear and Cold Fear—from the New York Times bestselling writing team Webb & Mann . . .

“Webb & Mann have done it again. Blind Fear has it all: great characters, an amazing plot, and an incredible setting. This novel moves like a hurricane!”—Connor Sullivan, author of Wolf Trap

By day, AWOL Navy SEAL Finn is hiding out on Vieques, a tiny island paradise off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico, living in a spare room behind a seafood restaurant owned by a blind local. By night he scours the dark web, hunting for the rogue officer responsible for the crimes he is accused of committing.

But Finn’s world is about to be turned upside down by a new nightmare, when his employer’s two grandchildren go missing. To find them, he’ll have to infiltrate the island’s dangerous criminal underbelly and expose a shadowy crime network known as La Empresa—even if it means exposing himself in the process.

As the children go on their own harrowing odyssey to stay one step ahead of a cop-turned-killer, a hurricane batters the coastline, cutting Puerto Rico off from the rest of the world. Taking his pursuit to the sea, Finn’s skills and endurance will be tested to their limits to rescue the lost children and escape his own pursuers before the clock runs out. No one is to be trusted. And those who are seemingly his friends might be the most dangerous foes he’s faced yet.

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Brandon Webb is a combat-decorated Navy SEAL sniper turned entrepreneur who has built two brands into an eight-figure business. As a U.S. Navy chief he was head instructor at the Navy SEAL sniper school, which produced some of America’s most legendary snipers.

John David Mann is coauthor of more than thirty books, including four New York Times bestsellers and five national bestsellers. His writing has won multiple awards, including the Living Now Book Awards Evergreen Medal for its “contributions to positive global change.”

Webb and Mann have been writing together for over a decade, starting with their New York Times bestselling memoir The Red Circle. This is their third novel in the Finn X series.

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Enjoy the conversation with all the authors.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Brad Thor on publication day for his twenty-second Scot Harvath thriller, Dead Fall. Signed copies of Dead Fall are available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4758z3c

Here’s the description of Dead Fall.

Lethal operative Scot Harvath is dispatched to avenge the killing of American citizens abroad in #1 New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Brad Thor’s new pulse-pounding thriller.

In the war-ravaged borderlands of Ukraine, a Russian mercenary unit has gone rogue. Its members, conscripted from the worst prisons and mental asylums across Russia, are the most criminally violent, psychologically dangerous combatants to ever set foot upon the modern battlefield.

With all attention focused on the frontlines, they have pushed deeper into the interior to wage a campaign of unspeakable barbarity. As they move from village to village, committing horrific war crimes, they meet little resistance as all able-bodied men are off fighting the war.

Simultaneously, a team of Russian soldiers has been dispatched by the Kremlin to loot truckloads of art and priceless cultural treasures hidden away in a host of churches, museums, and private homes.

When multiple American aid workers are killed, America’s top spy, Scot Harvath, is sent in to settle the score. But in a country so vast, will Harvath be able to find the men in question and, more importantly, will he be able to stop them before they can kill again?

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Brad Thor is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-three thrillers, including Rising Tiger, Black Ice (Thrillerfix Best Thriller of the Year), Near Dark (one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of the Year), Backlash (nominated for the Barry Award for Best Thriller of the Year), Spymaster (named “one of the all-time best thriller novels” by The Washington Times), The Last Patriot (nominated Best Thriller of the Year by the International Thriller Writers association), and Blowback (called one of the “Top 100 Killer Thrillers of All Time” by NPR). Visit his website at BradThor.com and follow him on Facebook @BradThorOfficial, on Instagram @RealBradThor, and on Twitter @BradThor.

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Enjoy the conversation about travel and Brad Thor’s books.