Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Anna Downes for a virtual event from Australia. Downes discusses her latest novel, The Shadow House. You can order a copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3v2fOs1
Here’s the description of The Shadow House.
Extraordinarily tense and deliciously mysterious, Anna Downes’s The Shadow House follows one woman’s desperate journey to protect her children at any cost, in a remote place where not everything is as it seems.
A HOUSE WITH DEADLY SECRETS.
A MOTHER WHO’LL RISK EVERYTHING TO BRING THEM TO LIGHT.
Alex, a single mother-of-two, is determined to make a fresh start for her and her children. In an effort to escape her troubled past, she seeks refuge in a rural community. Pine Ridge is idyllic; the surrounding forests are beautiful and the locals welcoming. Mostly.
But Alex finds that she may have disturbed barely hidden secrets in her new home. As a chain of bizarre events is set off, events eerily familiar to those who have lived there for years, Alex realizes that she and her family might be in greater danger than ever before. And that the only way to protect them all is to confront the shadows lurking in Pine Ridge.
ANNA DOWNES was born and raised in Sheffield, UK, but now lives just north of Sydney, Australia with her husband and two children. She worked as an actress before turning her attention to writing and appeared in BBC TV shows such as Eastenders, Casualty, Holby City, and Dalziel and Pascoe, as well as a long-running stage production of “The Dresser” in London’s West End. She has degrees from both Manchester University (Drama) and RADA (Acting). She has been published in the Zodiac Literary Review, shortlisted for the Sydney Writers Room Short Story Prize and longlisted for the Margaret River Short Story Competition. The Safe Place was inspired by Anna’s experiences working as a live-in housekeeper on a remote French estate in 2009-10.
Enjoy the conversation with Anna Downes and Barbara Peters.
Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen has been a fan of Gary Phillips’ books for years, so he was the perfect host when Phillips appeared to talk about One-Shot Harry. Signed copies of the latest novel are available through the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/mwcktbyv
Here’s the description of One-Shot Harry.
Race and civil rights in 1963 Los Angeles provide a powerful backdrop in Gary Phillips’s riveting historical crime novel about an African American forensic photographer seeking justice for a friend—perfect for fans of Walter Mosley, James Ellroy, and George Pelecanos.
LOS ANGELES, 1963: African American Korean War veteran Harry Ingram earns a living as a news photographer and occasional process server: chasing police radio calls and dodging baseball bats. With racial tensions running high on the eve of Martin Luther King’s Freedom Rally, Ingram risks becoming a victim at every crime scene he photographs.
When Ingram hears about a deadly automobile accident on his police scanner, he recognizes the vehicle described as belonging to his good friend and old army buddy, a white jazz trumpeter. The LAPD declares the car crash an accident, but when Ingram develops his photos, he sees signs of foul play. Ingram feels compelled to play detective, even if it means putting his own life on the line. Armed with his wits, his camera, and occasionally his Colt .45, “One-Shot” Harry plunges headfirst into the seamy underbelly of LA society, tangling with racists, leftists, gangsters, zealots, and lovers, all in the hope of finding something resembling justice for a friend.
Master storyteller and crime fiction legend Gary Phillips has filled the pages of One-Shot Harry with fascinating historical cameos, wise-cracks, tenderness, and an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride of a plot with consequences far beyond one dead body.
Gary Phillips has published novels, comics, novellas, short stories and edited or co-edited several anthologies, including the Anthony-winning The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir. Almost 30 years after its publication, his debut, Violent Spring, was named one of the essential crime novels of Los Angeles. He also was a story editor on Snowfall, an FX show about crack and the CIA in 1980s South Central, where he grew up.
Gary Phillips talks about previous books, and One-Shot Harry. Enjoy the conversation.
Anne Perry recently appeared for The Poisoned Pen to discuss her fifth Daniel Pitt novel, Three Debts Paid. She and Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, discuss this story of murder and plagiarism. You can order copies through the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/2sfa9a6e
Here’s the description of Three Debts Paid.
A killer is on the loose, targeting victims with a mysterious connection that young barrister Daniel Pitt must deduce before more bodies pile up, in this intricately woven mystery from New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry.
A serial killer is roaming the streets of London, and Daniel Pitt’s university chum Ian, now a member of the police, is leading the search. The murders happen on rainy nights, but Ian knows the victims must have something in common beyond the weather. He turns to Miriam fford Croft, Daniel’s good friend and now officially one of the first female pathologists in London, to tap her scientific know-how to find details he and Daniel have missed.
With Miriam involved in the murder investigation, Ian passes Daniel the case of Nicholas Wolford, their former university professor. Charged with assault after reacting violently to an accusation of plagiarism, Wolford, a proud, boastful man, is loath to admit he was in the wrong. But Daniel must defend him—whether he likes him or not.
As the murders continue with no clue as to who is committing them, Miriam, Daniel, and Ian find themselves questioning everything. Is the “Rainy-day Slasher,” as the newspapers have dubbed the killer, really just one person? Or have the investigators stumbled into a more complicated web of deceit? The answer may lie closer than anyone could have expected.
Anne Perry is the bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the William Monk novels and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels. She is also the author of a series featuring Charlotte and Thomas Pitt’s son, Daniel, including Death with a Double Edge and One Fatal Flaw, as well as the 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 Byzantine Empire. She lives in Los Angeles.
Enjoy the conversation between Anne Perry and Barbara Peters.
Michael Barson recently interviewed Jeffrey Siger for Bookreporter.com, and he allowed me to share that interview here. Here’s the link if you’d like to check out the article, and the site itself. https://bit.ly/3Ek4CKb. But, with Michael’s permission, here’s the interview with Siger, author of One Last Chance.
ONE LAST CHANCE is the 12th installment in Jeffrey Siger‘s mystery series starring Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis. It’s set upon the mountainous rugged Greek island of Ikaria, against its storied past of exploitation, exiles and lives spent in hiding from conquerors, slavers and pirates, and its current worldwide reputation for the longevity of its people. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, Siger explains why he chose Ikaria as the setting for his latest book, names the one character whose development throughout the course of the series has been the most unexpected for him, and discusses his latest project, which is a huge departure from his Kaldis novels.
Question: I must admit that I had never heard of Ikaria before reading ONE LAST CHANCE, and the colorful history you provide about it (and its population of 8,500) explains why this Aegean isle is relatively obscure. Did you made an expedition there in the recent past for the purpose of researching the fascinating details in this book?
Jeffrey Siger: I’ve been to Ikaria on several occasions, always with locals, and generally ended up in remote places that were charged with wild natural beauty and steeped in Ikaria’s millennia-long history of successfully enduring and overcoming the most brutal of times. When I thought about writing Kaldis mystery/thriller #12, the world was in the raging throes of the pandemic. I wanted a storyline that neither ignored nor emphasized the effects of the pandemic, yet at its core was enmeshed in its consequences. To achieve that, I needed to find the ideal setting.
That’s when the writing gods smacked me upside my head and pointed their collective fingers at Ikaria. With its unique history of persevering through punishing, impoverishing challenges and its modern-day international fame for the longevity of its people — described by theNew York Times as “the place where people forget to die” — I realized I’d found the perfect setting for ONE LAST CHANCE.
Q: In the years that have gone by since the Inspector Kaldis series debuted, who would you select as the character whose development over that time has come to surprise you the most?
JS: What never fails to surprise me is how many of my characters have their own dedicated fan base, each demanding more storyline play for its favorite! In ONCE LAST CHANCE, I gave fan-favorite Maggie a lead role; after so many years of dedicated public service and endless repartee with Andreas, I thought she deserved it. But as Andreas’ administrative assistant, Maggie has also developed in ways I never anticipated. She’s led me to discover the inestimable value of her many hidden strengths, deeply held faith and loyal corps of front-line bureaucratic staffers.
Q: This is the 12th entry in this acclaimed series. If I am correct, Ikaria is the 11th part of Greece to receive the spotlight treatment, with your second home of Mykonos being featured twice. How many more locations around Greece are available for you to feature in future novels?
JS: I’ve set a trilogy on Mykonos, the first, fifth and 10th novels, and in some books the central locale (such as Patmos) shares the spotlight with another (Mount Athos). Though that’s whittled away at my available venues — with approximately 2,000 islands in Greece, of which 170 are inhabited — plus the storied mainland, I’d say I have a pretty good inventory left to work with.
Q: Kaldis heads the Special Crimes Unit of GADA, the Athens-based General Police Headquarters of Greece. How does an American such as yourself get the inside information needed to portray the workings of GADA accurately?
JS: To protect the innocent (and some of the guilty), let’s just say it’s all fiction. Having said that, any time I need to verify potential facts or settings, there’s a cadre of in-the-know Greek officials and friends ready, willing and able to help me get and keep things straight.
Q: I’ve always seen your Kaldis series as a more exotic version of Ed McBain’s legendary 87th Precinct series, which debuted way back in the 1950s. Can you recall who the biggest influences on you were among crime writers before you began writing your own books?
JS: Being compared to Ed McBain is quite an honor. Thank you for that. Among crime writers, I’d say (in alphabetical order) Tom Clancy, K.C. Constantine, Arthur Conan Doyle, Frederick Forsyth, Dick Francis and Cormac McCarthy (if you count him as a crime writer). But in truth, I believe playwrights, such as August Wilson, in their use of dialogue had a greater influence on my writing.
Q: The Kaldis series is celebrated by the media in Greece on a whole other level than it has been here in the States. Has anyone from the Greek film and/or television industry ever approached you about wanting to produce a dramatization of your books?
JS: I regularly receive overtures from Greece and elsewhere to dramatize my work. Interest at times has led to contractual arrangements, but not as yet to production. Stay tuned.
Q: A number of mystery authors have a second series alternating with their original one. Has that possibility ever tempted you, or at least crossed your mind? Or does Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis take up all of your creative powers?
JS: Funny you should ask. I recently completed the first book in a new series, a story I’ve been meaning to write for years. It’s based in New York City and features an eccentric protagonist resembling a unique composite of George Smiley, Sherlock Holmes and the Equalizer. I’m currently ruminating on which publishing house might be the right home for it.
Here’s the summary of One Last Chance. Signed copies are available through The Poisoned Pen’s Web Store. https://bit.ly/3uaPUSh
When Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis’s longtime assistant, Maggie, returns to her ancestral home on Ikaria for her 104-year-old grandmother’s funeral, she quickly realizes not only was Yiayia likely murdered, but that a series of other long-lived Ikariots had recently died under the same suspicious circumstances. Back in Athens, Andreas and his chief detective Yianni pursue a smuggling and protection ring embedded in the Greek DEA, and its possible involvement in the assassination of an undercover cop.
But then Maggie and Yianni uncover a connection between their respective leads in the elder-killings on Ikaria and the DEA corruption case, and they realize that there are international intrigues far more dangerous at play than anyone had imagined.
I’m going to agree with John Charles from The Poisoned Pen that Kim Fay’s Love & Saffron was a wonderful book. Charles had the chance to talk with the author at the bookstore with a live audience. There are signed copies of the book available in the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/antbc2kz
Here’s the description of Love & Saffron.
The Instant National Bestseller and #1 Indie Next Pick
In the vein of the classic 84, Charing Cross Road, this witty and tender novel followstwo women in 1960s America as they discover that food really doesconnect us all, and that friendship and laughter are the best medicine.
When twenty-seven-year-old Joan Bergstrom sends a fan letter–as well as a gift of saffron–to fifty-nine-year-old Imogen Fortier, a life-changing friendship begins. Joan lives in Los Angeles and is just starting out as a writer for the newspaper food pages. Imogen lives on Camano Island outside Seattle, writing a monthly column for a Pacific Northwest magazine, and while she can hunt elk and dig for clams, she’s never tasted fresh garlic–exotic fare in the Northwest of the sixties. As the two women commune through their letters, they build a closeness that sustains them through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the unexpected in their own lives.
Food and a good life—they can’t be separated. It is a discovery the women share, not only with each other, but with the men in their lives. Because of her correspondence with Joan, Imogen’s decades-long marriage blossoms into something new and exciting, and in turn, Joan learns that true love does not always come in the form we expect it to. Into this beautiful, intimate world comes the ultimate test of Joan and Imogen’s friendship—a test that summons their unconditional trust in each other.
A brief respite from our chaotic world, Love & Saffron is a gem of a novel, a reminder that food and friendship are the antidote to most any heartache, and that human connection will always be worth creating.
Born in Seattle and raised throughout the Pacific Northwest, Kim Fay lived in Vietnam for four years and still travels to Southeast Asia frequently. A former bookseller, she is the author of Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam, winner of the World Gourmand Cookbook Awards’ Best Asian Cuisine Book in the United States, and The Map of Lost Memories,an Edgar Award finalist for Best First Novel. She is also the creator/editor of a series of guidebooks on Southeast Asia. Fay now lives in Los Angeles.
Turn up the volume, and enjoy Kim Fay’s discussion of writing and Love & Saffron.
Anne Hillerman’s The Sacred Bridge is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. Hillerman appeared at the bookstore for the release of her seventh Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito novel. There are signed copies of The Sacred Bridge available in the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/5n82w8np
Here’s the summary of The Sacred Bridge.
“A fine legacy series . . . in the spirit of her late father, Tony.”—Booklist
An ancient mystery resurfaces with ramifications for the present day in this gripping chapter in the Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series from New York Times bestselling author Anne Hillerman.
Sergeant Jim Chee’s vacation to beautiful Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell has a deeper purpose. He’s on a quest to unravel a sacred mystery his mentor, the Legendary Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, stumbled across decades earlier.
Chee’s journey takes a deadly turn when, after a prayerful visit to the sacred Rainbow Bridge, he spots a body floating in the lake. The dead man, a Navajo with a passion for the canyon’s ancient rock art, lived a life filled with many secrets. Discovering why he died and who was responsible involves Chee in an investigation that puts his own life at risk.
Back in Shiprock, Officer Bernadette Manuelito is driving home when she witnesses an expensive sedan purposely kill a hitchhiker. The search to find the killer leads her to uncover a dangerous chain of interconnected revelations involving a Navajo Nation cannabis enterprise.
But the evil that is unleashed jeopardizes her mother and sister Darleen, and puts Bernie in the deadliest situation of her law enforcement career.
ANNE HILLERMAN is the bestselling author of the Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series. The Sacred Bridge is her seventh novel in the series, which was created by her father, Tony Hillerman. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she is at work on her next novel.
Enjoy Anne HIllerman’s conversation with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.
The Echoes is the fourth book in Jess Montgomery’s Kinship series, set in the 1920s in Ohio. She recently appeared for a virtual event to discuss the book with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3JbAilH
Here’s the summary of The Echoes.
The fourth in Jess Montgomery’s evocative Kinship series, The Echoes combines exquisite storytelling with extraordinary crime plotting.
“A beautifully written tour de force.” —Linda Castillo on The Stills
As July 4, 1928 approaches, Sheriff Lily Ross and her family look forward to the opening of an amusement park in a nearby town, created by Chalmer Fitzpatrick—a veteran and lumber mill owner. When Lily is alerted to the possible drowning of a girl, she goes to investigate, and discovers schisms going back several generations, in an ongoing dispute over the land on which Fitzpatrick has built the park.
Lily’s family life is soon rattled, too, with the revelation that before he died, her brother had a daughter, Esme, with a woman in France, and arrangements have been made for Esme to immigrate to the U.S. to live with them. But Esme never makes it to Kinship, and soon Lily discovers that she has been kidnapped. Not only that, but a young woman is indeed found murdered in the fishing pond on Fitzpatrick’s property, at the same time that a baby is left on his doorstep.
As the two crimes interweave, Lily must confront the question of what makes family: can we trust those we love? And what do we share, and what do we keep secret?
JESS MONTGOMERY writes a Writer’s Digest magazine column, “Level Up Your Writing (Life)” and was formerly the “Literary Life” columnist for the Dayton Daily News. Based on early chapters of the first book in the Kinship Series, The Widows, Jess was awarded an Ohio Arts Council individual artist’s grant for literary arts and named the John E. Nance Writer-in-Residence at Thurber House in Columbus. She also hosts the podcast, “Tea with Jess: Chatting with Authors & Artists.” Jess lives in her native state of Ohio.
Here’s the virtual event in which Jess Montgomery talks about her books, including The Echoes.
No Accident is Steven Havill’s 25th Posadas County mysteries. Havill recently appeared in person at The Poisoned Pen to talk about his latest book. There are signed copies of No Accident available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3uYL3Tn
While Carlos struggles with critical injuries, an employee at the bike shop where Carlos bought the tandem is found shot dead in a dumpster—the same man who had borrowed the truck that mowed down Carlos and Tasha. The local cops aren’t convinced there’s any connection between the two crimes. Not a believer in coincidence, Estelle pursues every possible angle with a cop’s determination to solve the case, and a mother’s resolve to keep her son safe at any cost.
Steven F. Havill lives with his wife of fifty-three years, Kathleen, in New Mexico. He is the author of thirty-two novels, taught secondary schools for 25 years, and recently earned an AAS degree in gunsmithing.
There is no sound for the first 4 minutes and 5 seconds of the virtual event. They do realize that after a few minutes, and they start over. So, hang in there with Steven F. Havill and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2022 Lefty Awards, presented this weekend at Left Coast Crime in Albuquerque. “The awards were voted on at the convention and presented at the banquet. LCC is delighted to announce the 2022 Lefty winners for books published in 2021.”
There’s always a terrific slate of authors scheduled to appear for The Poisoned Pen. It’s time to share upcoming appearances in the next week. Check out the schedule, and check the Web Store for books by your favorite authors. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
Here’s the list of this week’s authors.
Anne HillermanJohn SandfordKim FayWill Thomas/Charles Finch
