The Pledge is Kathleen Kent’s third Detective Betty mystery, but when Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen talked with her, they spoke about her earlier writing, her background, as well as her crime fiction. You can order a signed copy of The Pledge through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3Fn6r8z

Here’s the description of The Pledge.

In this “instantly cinematic and completely compelling” thriller (Hank Phillippi Ryan), Detective Betty has only two weeks to take down her deadliest rival—this time for good.

“The terrific adrenaline punch you’d expect for the grand finale of Kathleen Kent’s Edgar-nominated trilogy.” —Julia Heaberlin

Things are looking up for Detective Betty Rhyzyk. She’s settled into a happy marriage and been promoted to Sergeant in the Dallas Police Department. But when a hostage stand-off puts her on the phone with legendary cartel leader The Knife, things take a turn. The Knife has heard a rival is making a play for the streets of Dallas—none other than Evangeline Roy. The matriarch of a ruthless cult, Evangeline also happens to hold a personal vendetta against Betty. So who better to draw Evangeline out of hiding? Betty’s got two weeks to catch her. Or else.

With Betty’s young charge Mary Grace already missing—having left her seven-month-old baby behind in Betty’s care—and the drug dealers of Dallas donning strange red wigs and delivering cryptic messages, Betty’s in a race for answers. With the clock ticking down, it will take everything she’s got to finally put an end to Evangeline’s reign of terror, and to keep her beloved Dallas—and her own family—safe at last.

“I read this book in a compulsive binge . . . Betty Rhyzyk won’t soon be forgotten by crime readers.” —Sarah Weinman, New York Times Book Review

“Riveting.”—The Washington Post

“A police procedural like none you’ve ever read.” —Hank Phillippi Ryan

“A thrilling last dance with the formidable Betty Rhyzyk.” —Steph Cha”‹

“Detective Betty is one of my favorite queer characters in crime fiction. The Pledge is fiery and propulsive.”—Kristen Lepionka

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Kathleen Kent is the author of the Edgar Award-nominated The Dime and The Burn as well as three bestselling historical novels: The Heretic’s Daughter, The Traitor’s Wife, and The Outcasts. Kent lives in Dallas, TX.

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Enjoy the conversation between Kathleen Kent and Patrick Millikin.

Are you familiar with The Murder Squad? Five of the British authors who compose The Murder Squad participated in a recent virtual event at The Poisoned Pen as they discussed their most recent anthology, Many Deadly Returns. It celebrates twenty-one years working together to promote their work. You can order copies of Many Deadly Returns through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3HnIorV

Here’s the summary of Many Deadly Returns.

Murder Squad, a group of award-winning crime and mystery writers, celebrate their twenty-first birthday with a bang in this criminally good collection of short stories.

A dawn swim turns deadly in a brand-new short story starring DCI Vera Stanhope . . . Two bored cell-mates play a game with chilling results . . . A hen night in an isolated cottage brings new meaning to “˜I will survive’ . . . A train traveller teaches a valuable lesson in reading labels . . . A day at the seaside turns stormy for a woman who doesn’t care for foreigners . . . A wealthy retiree makes a new friend who connects her to the Other Side . . . and much much more.

Short, sharp and packed with twists, these 21 unputdownable tales showcase Murder Squad’s range and talent throughout the years. So why not treat yourself to a slice of murderously moreish fiction, and join us in wishing the squad “˜Many Deadly Returns‘.

With stories by Ann Cleeves, Martin Edwards, Kate Ellis, Margaret Murphy, Chris Simms and Cath Staincliffe, as well as John Baker, Chaz Brenchley and Stuart Pawson.

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Murder Squad is a collective of six internationally bestselling crime and mystery writers based in the north of England: Ann Cleeves, Martin Edwards, Kate Ellis, Margaret Murphy, Chris Simms and Cath Staincliffe. They are joined in this anthology by former members John Baker, Chaz Brenchley and Stuart Pawson.

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If you’re a fan of short stories or any of these British authors, I think you’ll enjoy the virtual event.

Nicholas Meyer brings back Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in The Return of the Pharaoh, an adventure that takes Holmes to Egypt. He appeared for a recent virtual event for The Poisoned Pen, hosted by Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, and Will Thomas, author of the Barker/Llewelyn mysteries. You can find Meyer’s books in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3ov8vEK

Here’s the summary of The Return of the Pharaoh.

In Nicholas Meyer’s The Return of the Pharaoh, Sherlock Holmes returns in an adventure that takes him to Egypt in search of a missing nobleman, a previously undiscovered pharaoh’s tomb, and a conspiracy that threatens his very life.

With his international bestseller, The Seven Per Cent Solution, Nicholas Meyer brought to light a previously unpublished case of Sherlock Holmes that reinvigorated the world’s interest in the first consulting detective. Now, many years later, Meyer is given exclusive access to Dr. Watson’s unpublished journal, wherein he details a previously unknown case.

In 1910, Dr. John Watson travels to Egypt with his wife Juliet. Her tuberculosis has returned and her doctor recommends a stay at a sanitarium in a dry climate. But while his wife undergoes treatment, Dr. Watson bumps into an old friend–Sherlock Holmes, in disguise and on a case. An English Duke with a penchant for egyptology has disappeared, leading to enquiries from his wife and the Home Office.

Holmes has discovered that the missing duke has indeed vanished from his lavish rooms in Cairo and that he was on the trail of a previous undiscovered and unopened tomb. And that he’s only the latest Egyptologist to die or disappear under odd circumstances. With the help of Howard Carter, Holmes and Watson are on the trail of something much bigger, more important, and more sinister than an errant lord.

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NICHOLAS MEYER is the author three previous Sherlock Holmes novels, including The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, which was on the New York Times bestseller list for a year. He’s a screenwriter and film director, responsible for The Day After, Time After Time, as well as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country among many others. A native of New York City, he lives in Santa Monica, California.

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The virtual event includes a slide show featuring Egypt. Enjoy the discussion and the slide show.

Lynne Truss’ latest Constable Twitten mystery is Psycho By the Sea. She returns virtually to The Poisoned Pen to discuss that book, Psycho By the Sea. You can order the book, and it comes with a signed bookplate. You can find Truss’ books in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3opCBJB

Here’s the description of Psycho By the Sea.

In the latest installment of this charming and quirky series, a trio of detectives are faced with the arrival of an escaped criminal with an unlikely penchant for boiling the heads of policemen.

It’s September in the British beach town of Brighton, and the city is playing host to weeks of endless rain and some brand new villains.

A trusted member of a local gang has disappeared part way through planning a huge heist; a violent criminal obsessed with boiling the heads of policemen has escaped a local prison, and at Gosling’s department store an American researcher has been found dead in the music section.

Inspector Steine has other things on his mind ““ since the triumphant conclusion to his last case, Steine has so many awards and invitations coming his way that he has had to take on a secretary ““ but Sergeant Brunswick and Constable ‘Clever Clogs’ Twitten are both on the case. If only they could work out just who is behind these dastardly acts…

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Lynne Truss is a columnist, writer and broadcaster whose book on punctuation Eats, Shoots & Leaves was an international bestseller. She has written extensively for radio, and is the author of six previous novels, as well as a non-fiction account (Get Her Off the Pitch!) of her four years as a novice sportswriter for The Times. On radio, she is currently engaged in writing a continuing sequence of short stories for Radio 4 entitled Life at Absolute Zero. Her columns have appeared in the Listener, The Times, the Sunday Telegraph and Saga. She lives in Sussex and London with two dogs.

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Enjoy the conversation between Lynne Truss and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.

Jayne Ann Krentz and JT Ellison recently interviewed Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, for the 32nd anniversary of the bookstore. Peters liked the result so much that Krentz and Ellison are presenting another episode of “Behind the Pen”. This time, they’re interviewing John Charles from the staff. It’s a fun interview, and John Charles takes time to talk about his career as a librarian, a book reviewer, and, now, his work at the bookstore.

If you’d like to get to know John Charles from the bookstore’s staff, check out the interview below.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently hosted the virtual event featuring Beatriz Williams. Williams’ The Wicked Widow is the third book in her Wicked City series. You can order copies through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3gTTGHK

Here’s the summary of The Wicked Widow.

Gin Kelly, the wicked redhead, is back! Readers will delight in next installment of the Wicked City series by New York Times bestselling author Beatriz Williams. 

June 1925. Audacious Appalachian flapper Geneva “Gin” Kelly prepares to trade her high-flying ways for respectable marriage to Oliver Anson Marshall, a steadfast Prohibition agent who happens to hail from one of New York’s most distinguished families. But just as wedding bells chime, the head of the notorious East Coast rum-running racket—and Anson’s mortal enemy—turns up murdered at a society funeral, and their short-lived honeymoon bliss goes up in a spectacular blaze that sends Anson back undercover…and into the jaws of a trap from which not even Gin can rescue him. As violence explodes around her, Gin must summon all her considerable moxie to trace the tentacles of this sinister organization back to their shocking source, and face down a legendary American family at a rigged game it has no intention of losing.

June 1998. When Ella Dommerich’s ninetysomething society queen aunt Julie ropes her into digging up dirt on Senator (and Presidential candidate) Franklin Hardcastle in order to settle old family scores, she couldn’t be less enthusiastic. Pregnant Ella’s recently ditched her unfaithful husband and settled into cozy—if complicated—domesticity with her almost-too-good-to-be-true musician boyfriend, Hector. But then the Hardcastle secrets lead to a web of shady dealings Ella’s uncovered in her job as a financial analyst, and the bodies start to tumble out of the venerable woodwork. With the help of her ex-husband and her mysterious connection to a certain redheaded flapper, Ella digs up more than mere dirt…only to discover herself standing alone between a legendarily ruthless family and the prize it’s sought for generations.

What ugly secrets lurk in the opulent enclaves—and bank accounts–of America’s richest families? And can two determined women from two different generations thwart the murderous legacy of the demon liquor?

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Beatriz Williams is the bestselling author of thirteen novels, including Her Last Flight, The Summer Wives, and The Golden Hour, as well as All the Ways We Said Goodbye, cowritten with Lauren Willig and Karen White. A native of Seattle, she graduated from Stanford University and earned an MBA in finance from Columbia University. She lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore, where she divides her time between writing and laundry.

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Enjoy the virtual event with Beatriz Williams as she discusses her stories and the characters.

The Poisoned Pen recently premiered Michael Connelly’s The Dark Hours, “A Renee Ballard and Harry Bosche Novel”. The virtual event takes readers inside the bookstore, and even back in time with an early photo of Connelly. You can order a signed copy of The Dark Hours through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2RtzGgK

Here’s the summary of The Dark Hours.

“A masterpiece”—LAPD detective Renée Ballard must join forces with Harry Bosch to find justice in a city scarred by fear and social unrest after a methodical killer strikes on New Year’s Eve (Publishers Weekly).

There’s chaos in Hollywood at the end of the New Year’s Eve countdown. Working her graveyard shift, LAPD detective Renée Ballard waits out the traditional rain of lead as hundreds of revelers shoot their guns into the air. Only minutes after midnight, Ballard is called to a scene where a hardworking auto shop owner has been fatally hit by a bullet in the middle of a crowded street party.

Ballard quickly concludes that the deadly bullet could not have fallen from the sky and that it is linked to another unsolved murder—a case at one time worked by Detective Harry Bosch. At the same time, Ballard hunts a fiendish pair of serial rapists, the Midnight Men, who have been terrorizing women and leaving no trace.

Determined to solve both cases, Ballard feels like she is constantly running uphill in a police department indelibly changed by the pandemic and recent social unrest. It is a department so hampered by inertia and low morale that Ballard must go outside to the one detective she can count on: Harry Bosch. But as the two inexorable detectives work together to find out where old and new cases intersect, they must constantly look over their shoulders. The brutal predators they are tracking are ready to kill to keep their secrets hidden.

Unfolding with unstoppable drive and nail-biting intrigue, The Dark Hours shows that “relentless on their own, Ballard’s and Bosch’s combined skills…could be combustible” (Los Angeles Times).

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Michael Connelly is the author of thirty-five previous novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Law of Innocence,Fair Warning, and The Night Fire. His books, which include the Harry Bosch series, the Lincoln Lawyer series, and the Renée Ballard series, have sold more than eighty million copies worldwide. Connelly is a former newspaper reporter who has won numerous awards for his journalism and his novels. He is the executive producer of Bosch, starring Titus Welliver, and the creator and host of the podcasts Murder Book and The Wonderland Murders. He spends his time in California and Florida.

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The Dark Hours reflects the world as it has been in the last year. Enjoy the virtual event with Michael Connelly.

Congratulations to the winners and nominees for the World Fantasy Awards. While it might take a little while to get copies, you can order copies of the books through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Tor.com reported on the announcement.

The winners of the 2021 World Fantasy Awards were announced this weekend at the World Fantasy Convention, which took place in Montreal, Canada, with the theme of “Fantasy, Imagination, and the Dreams of Youth.” Megan Lindholm and Howard Waldrop received Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Congratulations to all the finalists and winners!

NOVEL

• WINNER: Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson (Tor Books)
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury)
• The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga Press/Titan UK)
• Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey US/Jo Fletcher Books UK)
• The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk (Erewhon Books US/Orbit UK)

NOVELLA

• WINNER: Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi (Tordotcom Publishing)
• Ring Shout, or Hunting Ku Kluxes in the End Times by P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom Publishing)
• “Stepsister” by Leah Cypess (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction,May/June 2020)
• Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings (Tordotcom Publishing)
• The Four Profound Weaves by R. B. Lemberg  (Tachyon Publications)

SHORT FICTION

• WINNER: “Glass Bottle Dancer” by Celeste Rita Baker (Lightspeed, April 2020)
• “The Women Who Sing for Sklep” by Kay Chronister  (Thin Places)
• “The Nine Scents of Sorrow” by Jordan Taylor (Uncanny Magazine, July/Aug. 2020)
• “My Country Is a Ghost” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny Magazine,January/February 2020)
• “Open House on Haunted Hill” by John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots, June 15 2020)

ANTHOLOGY

• WINNER: The Big Book of Modern Fantasy, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (Vintage Books)
• Edited By, edited by Ellen Datlow (Subterranean Press)
• The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, Vol. 1, edited by James D. Jenkins and Ryan Cagle (Valancourt Books)
• Shadows & Tall Trees 8, edited by Michael Kelly (Undertow Publications)
• The Book of Dragons, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Harper Voyager)

COLLECTION

• WINNER: Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda, translated by Polly Barton (Soft Skull Press US/Tilted Axis UK)
• The Best of Jeffrey Ford by Jeffrey Ford  (PS Publishing)
• Velocities: Stories by Kathe Koja (Meerkat Press)
• We All Hear Stories in the Dark by Robert Shearman (PS Publishing)
• Nine Bar Blues: Stories of an Ancient Future by Sheree Renée Thomas (Third Man Books)

ARTIST

• WINNER: Rovina Cai
• Jeffrey Alan Love
• Reiko Murakami
• Daniele Serra
• Charles Vess

SPECIAL AWARD — PROFESSIONAL

• WINNER: C.C. Finlay, for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction editing
• Clive Bloom, for The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Gothic (Palgrave Macmillan)
• Jo Fletcher, for Jo Fletcher Books
• Maria Dahvana Headley, for Beowulf: A New Translation (MCD X FSG Originals  US/Scribe UK)
• Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock, for The Monster Theory Reader (University of Minnesota Press)

SPECIAL AWARD — NON-PROFESSIONAL

• WINNER: Brian Attebery, for Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts
• Scott H. Andrews, for Beneath Ceaseless Skies: Literary Adventure Fantasy
• Michael Kelly, for Undertow Publications
• Arley Sorg and Christie Yant, for Fantasy Magazine
• Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, for Uncanny Magazine

To be eligible, all nominated material must have been published in 2020 or have a 2020 cover date. Nominations came from two sources: Members of the current convention as well as the previous two voted for two nominations onto the final ballot, and the remaining nominations came from the panel of judges. This year’s judges were Tobias Buckell, Siobhan Carroll, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, Brian Evenson, and Patrick Swenson

John Charles from The Poisoned Pen recently welcomed Sherry Thomas back for a virtual author event. Thomas, the author of The Lady Sherlock series, discussed the sixth book in the series, Miss Moriarty, I Presume. You can order copies of the book through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3BVDQoB

Here’s the description of Miss Moriarty, I Presume.

Charlotte Holmes comes face to face with her enemy when Moriarty turns to her in his hour of need, in the USA Today bestselling series set in Victorian England.

A most unexpected client shows up at Charlotte Holmes’s doorstep: Moriarty himself. Moriarty fears that tragedy has befallen his daughter and wants Charlotte to find out the truth. 

Charlotte and Mrs. Watson travel to a remote community of occult practitioners where Moriarty’s daughter was last seen, a place full of lies and liars. Meanwhile, Charlotte’s sister Livia tries to make sense of a mysterious message from her beau Mr. Marbleton. And Charlotte’s longtime friend and ally Lord Ingram at last turns his seductive prowess on Charlotte—or is it the other way around?

But the more secrets Charlotte unravels about Miss Moriarty’s disappearance, the more she wonders why Moriarty has entrusted this delicate matter to her of all people. Is it merely to test Charlotte’s skills as an investigator, or has the man of shadows trapped her in a nest of vipers?

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USA Today bestselling author Sherry Thomas is one of the most acclaimed historical romance authors writing today and a two-time RITA Award winner.

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Enjoy the conversation between Sherry Thomas and John Charles.

Ann Williams edited Lost Cities, Ancient Tombs and Douglas Preston wrote the foreward. It’s subtitled “100 Discoveries That Changed the World”. Williams, who is an archaeologist by trade, was tasked to come up with these 100 discoveries for National Geographic. Unfortunately, Preston did such a great job pushing the book that the signed copies are all sold out at The Poisoned Pen. You can still get on a waiting list for signed copies. https://bit.ly/3qehQ60

Even if you can’t get a signed copy right now, you might want to learn about this fascinating book.

Blending high adventure with history, this chronicle of 100 astonishing discoveries from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the fabulous “Lost City of the Monkey God” tells incredible stories of how explorers and archaeologists have uncovered the clues that illuminate our past.

Archaeology is the key that unlocks our deepest history. Ruined cities, golden treasures, cryptic inscriptions, and ornate tombs have been found across the world, and yet these artifacts of ages past often raised more questions than answers. But with the emergence of archaeology as a scientific discipline in the 19th century, everything changed.

Illustrated with dazzling photographs, this enlightening narrative tells the story of human civilization through 100 key expeditions, spanning six continents and more than three million years of history. Each account relies on firsthand reports from explorers, antiquarians, and scientists as they crack secret codes, evade looters and political suppression, fall in love, commit a litany of blunders, and uncover ancient curses.
Pivotal discoveries include:

• King Tut’s tomb of treasure
• Terracotta warriors escorting China’s first emperor into the afterlife
• The glorious Anglo-Saxon treasure of Sutton-Hoo
• Graves of the Scythians, the real Amazon warrior women
• New findings on the grim fate of the colonists of Jamestown

With a foreword from bestselling author Douglas Preston, Lost Cities, Ancient Tombs is an expertly curated and breath-taking panorama of the human journey.

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General Editor ANN WILLIAMS specializes in writing about the ancient world and cultural heritage preservation. A writer for more than three decades career for National Geographic magazine and digital news, she reports on new discoveries and the latest research in archaeology around the world. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

DOUGLAS PRESTON (foreword) has published thirty-six books of fiction and nonfiction, twenty-nine of which have been New York Times bestsellers. He writes about archaeology and anthropology for the New Yorker, and has worked as an editor at the American Museum of Natural History, and has taught writing at Princeton University. He divides his time between New Mexico and Maine.

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Anyone intrigued by history will want to watch the virtual event, the conversation between Ann Williams and Douglas Preston.