John Charles recently welcomed four historical mystery authors for a virtual event for The Poisoned Pen. The Pen has copies of the most recent books by Jennifer Ashley (The Secret of Bow Lane), Amanda Flower (Because I Could Not Stop for Death), Anna Lee Huber (A Certain Darkness), and Andrea Penrose (Murder at the Serpentine Bridge). https://store.poisonedpen.com/

There’s so much to pick from! You can check out all the books and pick your favorite time period, or pick them all!

In Victorian-era London, amateur sleuth and cook Kat Holloway must solve a murder to claim an inheritance she didn’t know she had in a riveting new historical mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Death at the Crystal Palace

A stranger who appears on Kat’s doorstep turns out to be one Charlotte Bristow, legal wife of Joe Bristow, the man Kat once believed herself married to—who she thought died at sea twelve years ago. Kat is jolted by Charlotte’s claims that not only was Joe murdered, but he had amassed a small fortune before he died. Charlotte makes the cook an offer she cannot refuse—if Kat can discover the identity of Joe’s murderer, Charlotte will give her a share of the fortune Joe left behind. 

With the help of Daniel McAdam, her attractive and charismatic confidante, Kat plunges into her own past to investigate. When it becomes apparent that the case of Joe’s death goes far deeper than simple, opportunistic theft, Kat and Daniel’s relationship is put to the test, and Kat herself comes under scrutiny as her connection to Joe is uncovered. She must race to catch the real killer before she loses her job and possibly her life.

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Jennifer Ashley is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Below Stairs Mysteries, the Shifters Unbound paranormal romances, and the Mackenzies historical romances. She also writes as USA Today bestselling mystery author Ashley Gardner.

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Emily Dickinson and her housemaid, Willa Noble, realize there is nothing poetic about murder in this first book in an all-new series from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award”“winning author Amanda Flower.

January 1855 Willa Noble knew it was bad luck when it was pouring rain on the day of her ever-important job interview at the Dickinson home in Amherst, Massachusetts. When she arrived late, disheveled with her skirts sodden and filthy, she’d lost all hope of being hired for the position. As the housekeeper politely told her they’d be in touch, Willa started toward the door of the stately home only to be called back by the soft but strong voice of Emily Dickinson. What begins as tenuous employment turns to friendship as the reclusive poet takes Willa under her wing. 

Tragedy soon strikes and Willa’s beloved brother, Henry, is killed in a tragic accident at the town stables. With no other family and nowhere else to turn, Willa tells Emily about her brother’s death and why she believes it was no accident. Willa is convinced it was murder. Henry had been very secretive of late, only hinting to Willa that he’d found a way to earn money to take care of them both. Viewing it first as a puzzle to piece together, Emily offers to help, only to realize that she and Willa are caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse that reveals corruption in Amherst that is generations deep. Some very high-powered people will stop at nothing to keep their profitable secrets even if that means forever silencing Willa and her new mistress….

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Amanda Flower is the USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning mystery author of over forty novels, including the nationally bestselling Amish Candy Shop Mystery Series, Magical Bookshop Mysteries, and, written under the name Isabella Alan, the Amish Quilt Shop Mysteries. Flower is a former librarian, and she and her husband, a recording engineer, own a habitat farm and recording studio in Northeast Ohio.

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Set in Downton Abbey-era post-World War I England, this action-packed series from the USA Today bestselling author of the Lady Darby Mysteries is a treat for fans of Jacqueline Winspear and Susan Ella MacNeal.

“WWI buffs will love the in-depth historical detail.” ““Publishers Weekly

March 1920: Life has turned unsettlingly quiet for former British Intelligence agent Verity Kent and her husband, Sidney. But even that false calm is about to end. As threats remain, the French authorities soon request Sidney’s help with a suspect who claims to have proof of treason—shortly before she is assassinated. And Verity, too, is called to investigate a mystery . . .

The murder of a Belgian lawyer aboard a train seems at first to be a simple case of revenge. But the victim was connected to British Intelligence, and possessed papers detailing the sinking of a gold-laden German ship during the war.

As Verity and Sidney dig deeper, they discover their cases are intertwined—and a lethal adversary persists. Officially, the Great War may be over, but this is a battle of nerves and wits they cannot afford to lose . . .

Praise for Anna Lee Huber’s Penny for Your Secrets

“A historical mystery to delight fans of Agatha Christie or Daphne du Maurier.” —Bookpage

“Stellar mystery . . . a great read for fans of the series and all who enjoy Downton Abbey-era fiction.” —Booklist

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Anna Lee Huber is the Daphne award-winning and USA Today bestselling author of the Lady Darby Mysteries and the Verity Kent Mysteries. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she majored in music and minored in psychology. A member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers, she currently resides in Indiana with her family.

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USA Today bestselling author Andrea Penrose’s atmospheric mystery series sends newlywed sleuths, Lady Charlotte and the Earl of Wrexford, beyond the glittering ballrooms and salons of Regency London and through a web of international intrigue to save loved ones from harm…

“[Penrose] mixes well thought out mysteries, early forensic science, great details of the era and a slow burning attraction creating a compulsive read.” —The New York Public Library

Charlotte, now the Countess of Wrexford, would like nothing more than a summer of peace and quiet with her new husband and their unconventional family and friends. Still, some social obligations must be honored, especially with the grand Peace Celebrations unfolding throughout London to honor victory over Napoleon.

But when Wrexford and their two young wards, Raven and Hawk, discover a body floating in Hyde Park’s famous lake, that newfound peace looks to be at risk. The late Jeremiah Willis was the engineering genius behind a new design for a top-secret weapon, and the prototype is missing from the Royal Armory’s laboratory. Wrexford is tasked with retrieving it before it falls into the wrong hands. But there are unsettling complications to the case—including a family connection.

Soon, old secrets are tangling with new betrayals, and as Charlotte and Wrexford spin through a web of international intrigue and sumptuous parties, they must race against time to save their loved ones from harm—and keep the weapon from igniting a new war . . .

“A charming, action-packed mix of historical mystery and Regency romance.”— Kirkus Reviews

“Fascinating and well-researched historic events… a colorful depiction of Regency England.” ““Publishers Weekly

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Andrea Penrose is the acclaimed author of Regency-era historical fiction, including the USA Today bestselling Wrexford & Sloane mystery series, as well as Regency romances written under the names Cara Elliott and Andrea Pickens. Published internationally in ten languages, she is a three-time RITA Award-finalist and the recipient of numerous writing awards, including two Daphne Du Maurier Awards for Historical Mystery and two Gold Leaf Awards. A graduate of Yale University with a B.A. in Art and an M.F.A. in Graphic Design, Andrea fell in love with Regency England after reading Pride and Prejudice, and has maintained a fascination with the era’s swirling silks and radical new ideas throughout her writing career. She lives in Connecticut and blogs with a community of historical fiction authors at WordWenches.com. She also can be found at AndreaPenrose.com and on Instagram @AndreaPenroseBooks.

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You can see all the authors talk about their books during the virtual event.

If you’re a fan of Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles, you’ll enjoy watching his recent appearance at The Poisoned Pen. The Pen was Hearne’s home bookstore when he launched the series ten years ago. Now, the books have been reissued. You’ll have to watch the virtual event to hear Hearne’s comments about the bonus features in the new books as well as the revisions. You can order the books through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3dEjwCc

If you haven’t yet read one of the books, here’s the summary of the first book, Hounded.

The first novel in the New York Times bestselling Iron Druid Chronicles—the hilarious, action-packed tales of a two-thousand-year-old Druid pursued by ancient gods in the modern world

“A page-turning and often laugh-out-loud-funny caper through a mix of the modern and the mythic.”—Ari Marmell, author of The Warlord’s Legacy

Atticus O’Sullivan is the last of the ancient druids. He has been on the run for more than two thousand years and he’s tired of it. The Irish gods who want to kill him are after an enchanted sword he stole in a first-century battle, and when they find him managing an occult bookshop in Tempe, Arizona, Atticus doesn’t want to uproot his life again. He just wants everything to end one way or another, but preferably the way in which he can continue to enjoy fish and chips.

He does have some small hope of survival: The Morrigan, the Irish Chooser of the Slain, is on his side, and so is Brighid, First Among the Fae. His lawyer is literally a bloodsucking vampire, and he has a loyal Irish wolfhound with opinions about poodles.

But he’s facing down some mighty enemies: Aenghus Óg, a vengeful Irish god, plus a coven of witches and even the local police. On top of all that, Aenghus has a direct line to the firepower of hell. Atticus will need all the luck of the Irish and more if he’s going to stay alive.

Don’t miss any of The Iron Druid Chronicles:
HOUNDED | HEXED | HAMMERED | TRICKED | TRAPPED | HUNTED | SHATTERED | STAKED | SCOURGED | BESIEGED

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Kevin Hearne hugs trees, pets doggies, and rocks out to heavy metal. He also thinks tacos are a pretty nifty idea. He is the New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles, the Ink & Sigil series, and the Seven Kennings series, and is co-author of The Tales of Pell with Delilah S. Dawson.

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If you’re looking for a fun event, check out Kevin Hearne’s recent appearance at The Poisoned Pen.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen recently welcomed Anne Perry for a virtual event for the bookstore. Anne Perry’s latest Elena Standish mystery is A Truth to Lie For. There are a few signed copies still available. Check the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3f1Xb1v

Here’s the description of A Truth to Lie For.

A lethal new weapon endangers all of Europe—unless Elena Standish can rescue an ingenious scientist from Hitler’s clutches—in this action-packed mystery by bestselling author Anne Perry.

It is the summer of 1934, and Hitler is nearing the summit of supreme power in Germany, his eyes set on European domination. When Britain’s MI6 gets word that a pair of German scientists have made breakthroughs in germ warfare, they send Elena Standish on a dangerous mission to get one of them out of Germany before he’s forced to share his knowledge and its devastating power with Hitler’s elite.

But the British soon learn that it’s more than just time that Elena is working against. The new head of Germany’s germ warfare division is an old enemy of Elena’s grandfather Lucas, the former head of MI6. And he’s bent on using any means at his disposal to avenge his defeat at Lucas’s hands twenty years before.

What starts as an effort to save Europe from the devastation of disease soon becomes an intensely personal fight. As Elena and the scientist make their way across Germany, from Berlin to Bavaria and beyond, they confront not only the Gestapo but also a ragtag group of unpredictable Nazi supporters. Elena finds her every decision challenged in this compelling thriller that takes a searing look at what it means to do what’s right in a world rife with so much evil.

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Anne Perry is the bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the William Monk novels, including Dark Tide Rising and An Echo of Murder, and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, including Murder on the Serpentine and Treachery at Lancaster Gate. She is also the author of a series featuring Charlotte and Thomas Pitt’s son, Daniel, including Three Debts Paid and Death with a Double Edge, as well as the new Elena Standish series, including A Darker Reality and A Question of Betrayal; a series of five World War I novels; nineteen holiday novels (most recently A Christmas Legacy); and a historical novel, The Sheen on the Silk, set in the Ottoman Empire. She lives in Los Angeles.

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Although there were a few Internet problems early in the video, it’s still worth watching. Enjoy!

John Charles recently welcomed Jayne Ann Krentz back for a virtual event at The Poisoned Pen. Krentz was appearing in her pseudonym role as Jayne Castle, author of Sweetwater & the Witch. John Charles jokes that it’s a good selection for Halloween. You can still find signed copies in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3qUcYm0

Here’s the description of Sweetwater & the Witch.

Welcome to the world of Harmony, where—despite its name, things are anything but—danger lurks just beneath the surface in this new novel by New York Times bestselling author, Jayne Castle.

If there’s something Ravenna Chastain knows, it’s when to end things. And after she almost winds up the victim of a cult that believes she’s a witch, it’s easy to walk away from her dead-end career, ready for a new start. But where to find a job that would allow her to use her very specialized skill set? The answer is clear: she becomes a matchmaker.

But even a successful matchmaker can’t find someone for everyone, and Ravenna considers Ethan Sweetwater her first professional failure. After nine failed dates, Ravenna knows it’s time to cut Ethan loose. But Ethan refuses to be fired as a client—he needs one final date to a business function. Since Ravenna needs a date herself to a family event, they agree to a deal: she will be his (business) date if he will be her (fake) date to her grandparents’ anniversary celebration.

What Ethan fails to mention is that attending the business function is a cover for some industrial espionage that he’s doing as a favor to the new Illusion Town Guild boss. Ravenna is happy to help, but their relationship gets even more complicated when things heat up—the chemistry between them is explosive, as explosive as the danger that’s stalking Ravenna. Lucky for her, Ethan isn’t just an engineer—he’s also a Sweetwater, and Sweetwaters are known for hunting down monsters…

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Jayne Castle, the author of Guild Boss, Illusion Town, Siren’s Call, The Hot Zone, Deception Cove, The Lost Night, Canyons of Night, Midnight Crystal, Obsidian Prey, Dark Light, Silver Master, Ghost Hunter, After Glow, and After Dark, is a pseudonym for Jayne Ann Krentz, the author of more than fifty New York Times bestsellers. She writes contemporary romantic suspense novels under the Krentz name, as well as historical novels under the pseudonym Amanda Quick.

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This is a fascinating conversation, almost a history of romances in publishing. Enjoy!

A month and a half ago, David Heska Wanbli Weiden introduced The Poisoned Pen’s viewers to a debut author, Ramona Emerson. Emerson’s novel, Shutter, is one of those rare crime novels that has been nominated, and is now on the longlist for the National Book Award. You can still order copies of the book through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3BNNWvo

Although Weiden introduced Emerson and her book, here’s a book trailer in which she introduces her book and her protagonist, Rita Todacheene.

Here’s the description of Shutter.

Longlisted for the National Book Award

This blood-chilling debut set in New Mexico’s Navajo Nation is equal parts gripping crime thriller, supernatural horror, and poignant portrayal of coming of age on the reservation.

Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police force. Her excellent photography skills have cracked many cases—she is almost supernaturally good at capturing details. In fact, Rita has been hiding a secret: she sees the ghosts of crime victims who point her toward the clues that other investigators overlook. 

As a lone portal back to the living for traumatized spirits, Rita is terrorized by nagging ghosts who won’t let her sleep and who sabotage her personal life. Her taboo and psychologically harrowing ability was what drove her away from the Navajo reservation, where she was raised by her grandmother. It has isolated her from friends and gotten her in trouble with the law.

And now it might be what gets her killed.

When Rita is sent to photograph the scene of a supposed suicide on a highway overpass, the furious, discombobulated ghost of the victim—who insists she was murdered—latches onto Rita, forcing her on a quest for revenge against her killers, and Rita finds herself in the crosshairs of one of Albuquerque’s most dangerous cartels. Written in sparkling, gruesome prose, Shutter is an explosive debut from one of crime fiction’s most powerful new voices.

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Ramona Emerson is a Diné writer and filmmaker originally from Tohatchi, New Mexico. She has a bachelor’s in Media Arts from the University of New Mexico and an MFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts. After starting in forensic videography, she embarked upon a career as a photographer, writer, and editor. She is an Emmy nominee, a Sundance Native Lab Fellow, a Time-Warner Storyteller Fellow, a Tribeca All-Access Grantee and a WGBH Producer Fellow. In 2020, Emerson was appointed to the Governor’s Council on Film and Media Industries for the State of New Mexico. She currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she and her husband, the producer Kelly Byars, run their production company Reel Indian Pictures. Shutter is her first novel.

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You can still watch Ramona Emerson’s discussion with guest host David Heska Wanbli Weiden.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, is back from Bouchercon, and she’s hosting the virtual events again. She just hosted Charlie Lovett, author of The Enigma Affair. He talks about books and libraries and manuscripts in this thriller. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/3xt44uuu

Here’s the description of The Enigma Affair.

In this propulsive historical thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Escaping Dreamland, a librarian and a professional assassin team up to solve a seventy-five-year-old Nazi mystery and stop a nefarious opponent from wreaking havoc on the world.

When small-town librarian Patton Harcourt comes under fire one morning while making profiteroles, she has no choice but to trust the mysterious assassin, Nemo, who shows up in her kitchen. Fleeing a pair of German thugs, the two form an unlikely alliance as they try to decipher a seventy-five-year-old message encoded by Nazis on an Enigma machine. Traveling to Bletchley Park in England, they enlist the aid of Patton’s old flame, Ruthie Drinkwater, an expert on Enigma. The trio soon finds themselves on the run, pursued by both the police and Ingrid Weiss, a white supremacist trying to unlock the secret of Heinrich Himmler’s research into alchemy. If Patton, Nemo, and their cohorts can survive a host of dangers—from trained killers to explosions to imprisonment—they might be able to prevent Weiss from acquiring untold wealth to promote her racist agenda.

In this fast-paced thriller with a thoroughly researched World War II background, a mismatched cadre of heroes, including an art historian, a museum docent, and a collector of Nazi artifacts, must work together to stop a ruthless and resourceful opponent. Racing across Europe, attempting to outfox Weiss and her associates at every turn, Patton and her team mount a complex operation. But can they withstand double crosses and dark secrets from Patton’s military past to defeat Ingrid Weiss and discover the secret of Projekt Alchemie?

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Charlie Lovett is the New York Times bestselling author of four previous novels, including The Bookman’s Tale and Escaping Dreamland. His academic writings include Lewis Carroll: Formed by Faith and for children he has written The Book of the Seven Spells and twenty plays that have been seen in over five thousand productions worldwide. A former antiquarian bookseller and avid book collector, he and his wife, Janice, live in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and (when the pandemic allows) in the village of Kingham in England.

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Enjoy the discussion of books, librarians, and Bletchley Park.

It’s been a while since I shared the schedule of upcoming events. Check out this next week’s events, and then check the Web Store for the featured authors and books. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

As always, it’s a terrific schedule.

Karen Shaver recently welcomed Joel Dicker to The Poisoned Pen where he discussed his Hot Book of the Week, The Enigma of Room 622. There are signed copies of Dicker’s book available in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3BmBYqK

Here’s the description of The Enigma of Room 622.

“Dicker salutes Agatha Christie even as he drops the reader through one trapdoor into another, so that by the end, we doubt we’ve ever read another novel quite like it. (We haven’t.) Fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley will hug this book in between chapters; the many readers who love Anthony Horowitz’s mysteries will celebrate. And me? I’ll be reading it again.”—A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window 

A burnt-out writer’s retreat at a fancy Swiss hotel is interrupted by a murder mystery in this metafictional, meticulously crafted whodunit from the New York Times bestselling author of The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair.

A writer named Joël, Switzerland’s most prominent novelist, flees to the Hôtel de Verbier, a luxury resort in the Swiss Alps. Disheartened over a recent breakup and his longtime publisher’s death, Joël hopes to rest. However, his plans quickly go awry. It all starts with a seemingly innocuous detail: at the Verbier, there is no room 622. 

Before long, Joël and fellow guest Scarlett uncover a long-unsolved murder that transpired in the hotel’s room 622. The attendant circumstances: the succession of Switzerland’s largest private bank, a mysterious counterintelligence operation called P-30, and a most disreputable sabotage of hotel hospitality. A European phenomenon, The Enigma of Room 622 is a matryoshka doll of intrigue”“as precise as a Swiss watch”“and Dicker’s most diabolically addictive thriller yet.

Translated from the French by Robert Bononno

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JOEL DICKER was born in Geneva in 1985, where he later studied Law. His first novel was awarded the Prix des Ecrivains Genevois. The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (La Verite sur l’Affaire Harry Quebert) was shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt and won the Grand Prix du Roman de l’Academie Française and the Prix Goncourt des Lyceens.

SAM TAYLOR is a novelist and journalist who has lived in France for more than a decade. His first literary translation was Laurence Binet’s HHhH, which was longlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

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Enjoy the event with author Joel Dicker.