Fiction Review

Although Stephen Spotswood appeared for The Poisoned Pen to discuss his second Pentecost and Parker Mystery, Murder Under Her Skin, Barbara Peters also made an announcement about the first in the series. Spotswood’s Fortune Favors the Dead is the ’20-’21 Nero Wolfe Award winner. You can still order signed copies of Murder Under Her Skin through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3s3AHls

Here’s the summary of Spotswood’s most recent book.

Rex Stout meets Agatha Christie with a fresh twist in the new Pentecost and Parker Mystery, a delightfully hardboiled high-wire act starring two daring woman sleuths dead set on justice as they set out to solve a murder at a traveling circus

Someone’s put a blade in the back of the Amazing Tattooed Woman, and Willowjean “Will” Parker’s former knife-throwing mentor has been stitched up for the crime. To uncover the truth, Will and her boss, world-famous detective Lillian Pentecost, travel south to the circus where they find a snakepit of old grudges, small-town crime, and secrets worth killing for.
New York, 1946: The last time Will Parker let a case get personal, she walked away with a broken face, a bruised ego, and the solemn promise never again to let her heart get in the way of her job. But she called Hart and Halloway’s Travelling Circus and Sideshow home for five years, and Ruby Donner, the circus’s tattooed ingenue, was her friend. To make matters worse the prime suspect is Valentin Kalishenko, the man who taught Will everything she knows about putting a knife where it needs to go. 
To suss out the real killer and keep Kalishenko from a date with the electric chair, Will and Ms. Pentecost join the circus in sleepy Stoppard, Virginia, where the locals like their cocktails mild, the past buried, and big-city detectives not at all. The two swiftly find themselves lost in a funhouse of lies as Will begins to realize that her former circus compatriots aren’t playing it straight, and that her murdered friend might have been hiding a lot of secrets beneath all that ink. 
Dodging fistfights, firebombs, and flying lead, Will puts a lot more than her heart on the line in the search of the truth. Can she find it before someone stops her ticker for good?

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Here’s the introduction to the series with Fortune Favors the Dead.

“Razor-sharp style, tons of flair, a snappy sense of humor, and all the most satisfying elements of a really good noir novel, plus plenty of original twists of its own.”—Tana French

A wildly charming and fast-paced mystery written with all the panache of the hardboiled classics, Fortune Favors the Dead introduces Pentecost and Parker, an audacious new detective duo for the ages.

It’s 1942 and Willowjean “Will” Parker is a scrappy circus runaway whose knife-throwing skills have just saved the life of New York’s best, and most unorthodox, private investigator, Lillian Pentecost. When the dapper detective summons Will a few days later, she doesn’t expect to be offered a life-changing proposition: Lillian’s multiple sclerosis means she can’t keep up with her old case load alone, so she wants to hire Will to be her right-hand woman. In return, Will is to receive a salary, room and board, and training in Lillian’s very particular art of investigation.

Three years later, Will and Lillian are on the Collins case: Abigail Collins was found bludgeoned to death with a crystal ball following a big, boozy Halloween party at her home—her body slumped in the same chair where her steel magnate husband shot himself the year before. With rumors flying that Abigail was bumped off by the vengeful spirit of her husband (who else could have gotten inside the locked room?), the family has tasked the detectives with finding answers where the police have failed.

But that’s easier said than done in a case that involves messages from the dead, a seductive spiritualist, and Becca Collins—the beautiful daughter of the deceased, who Will quickly starts falling for. When Will and Becca’s relationship dances beyond the professional, Will finds herself in dangerous territory, and discovers she may have become the murderer’s next target.

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STEPHEN SPOTSWOOD is an award-winning playwright, journalist, and educator. As a journalist, he has spent much of the last two decades writing about the aftermath of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the struggles of wounded veterans. His dramatic work has been widely produced across the United States. He makes his home in Washington, DC, with his wife, young adult author Jessica Spotswood.

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Check out the conversation between Stephen Spotswood and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.

Of course there’s a break from virtual events in the second half of December. But, there are already plans for January 2022. Here is just a short sneak peek of several upcoming events. Don’t forget to check the Web Store for the authors’ books! https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Did you miss the Jungle Red Writers’ Holiday Event, hosted by Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen? Then, you missed the history of the group, and all the fun these authors brings to any event.

The authors are Rhys Bowen, Hallie Ephron, Deborah Crombie, Lucy Burdette, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Hank Phillippi Ryan and Jenn McKinlay.

Enjoy! And, check out their books in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

S.J. Rozan was one of the recent authors for a virtual appearance at The Poisoned Pen. Family Business is her latest Lydia Chin and Bill Smith novel. There are signed copies available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3rRnj3H

Here’s the summary of Family Business.

The death of a powerful Chinatown crime boss thrusts private eye Lydia Chin and her partner Bill Smith into a world of double-dealing, subterfuge, murder, and—because this is New York City—real estate in this new mystery by Edgar Award-winning novelist S. J. Rozan.

Choi has left the Tong headquarters building to his niece, who hires Lydia and her partner, Bill Smith, to accompany her to inspect it. The building is at the center of a tug-of-war between Chinatown preservation interests—including Lydia’s brother Tim—and a real estate developer who’s desperate to get his hands on it.

When Lydia, Bill, and Choi’s niece go to the building, they discover the Tong members are equally divided on the question of whether the niece should hold onto the building or sell it—and make them rich. Entering Choi’s private living quarters, they find the murdered body of Choi’s chief lieutenant. 

The battle for the building has begun. Can Lydia and Bill escape being caught in the crossfire?

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S. J. Rozan is the author of Paper Son and many other crime novels. She has won multiple awards for her fiction, including the Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, Nero, and Macavity, the Japanese Maltese Falcon, and the Private Eye Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award. S. J. was born and raised in the Bronx and now lives in lower Manhattan.

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Rozan discussed the Chinese history she wrote about in Paper Son, as well as other topics for the recent event.

When Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, asked the staff to write about their favorite books of 2021, I know we were all a little hesitant. So as not to offend anyone, John Charles and I went in different directions. He picked his favorite debuts of 2021. I’m a librarian and the blogger for The Pen. I chose to write about books in one of my favorite areas. I love novels about bookshops. I’m going to tell you about five books of 2021, provide a quick peek at a mystery coming out in January, and remind you of a classic.

Christmas by the Book is one of those charming seasonal stories about a miracle. Anne Marie Ryan introduces readers to a small English bookshop, a struggling one with a leaky roof and dwindling customers, although the local community loves the store. When Nora and Simon Walden, the owners, sell the book that has been in the store for years, they celebrate by running a contest on their website. “Do you know anyone in Stowford who could use a random act of kindness? We are giving away six books to anyone who needs a bit of hope this festive season.” There’s talk of books, and, of course, a bit of magic involving a community and a bookshop.

John Charles already told you about Jackie Fraser’s The Bookshop of Second Chances when he wrote about his favorite debuts, so I really only need to quote him. “After her personal and professional lives implode, Thea Mottram packs up her bags and leaves Chicago for Baldochrie, Scotland, where she has just inherited a small estate and collection of books from her late great uncle Andrew. Once there, Thea quickly finds she is warmly welcomed by everyone in the small town, except cranky bookseller Edward Maltravers. Who wouldn’t want to escape life’s stresses and strains (even if only for a few hours) by running away to a charming town in Scotland?” I will add I found this book worth reading just for the sassy, strong Thea.

If you love the paranormal in your cozy mysteries, you might want to check out the latest Haunted Bookshop mystery by Cleo Coyle, The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait. Jack Shepard is back! Let’s face it. While the blurb says “Bookshop owner Penelope Thornton-McClure and her gumshoe ghost team up”, many of us who read the Haunted Bookshop mysteries love Jack, the ghost of a private investigator killed in 1949 on the site of the bookshop in Quindicott, Rhode Island. Penelope and her aunt host a launch party and art exhibit at Buy the Book, their bookstore. When two deaths occur, related to a painting that is supposed to be “cursed”, Jack takes Penny back to 1947 to witness a case similar to the current troubles. I like Jack and the bookshop in this cozy series.

The Last Bookshop in London is Madeline Martin’s novel of World War II, an homage to books and reading and the power of books. I’ll admit I sobbed over this one. The job at Primrose Hill Books is the only job Grace Bennett can find in London just before the war begins, but she’s not a reader, and is ill-equipped to help people in the shabby little bookstore. The book starts out on a lighthearted note, but quickly becomes serious as the characters have to cope with the bombings in London, and loss of beloved friends. As I said, though, it’s a tribute to the power of books. When asked what he likes best about reading, one character replies, “It’s going somewhere without ever taking a train or ship, an unveiling of new, incredible worlds. It’s living a life you weren’t born into and a chance to see something colored by someone else’s perspective. It’s learning without having to face consequences of failures, and how best to succeed….I think within all of us, there is a void, a gap waiting to be filled by something. For me, that something is books, and all their proffered experiences.”

A Curious Incident, the sixth book in Vicki Delany’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery series, was my favorite. Gemma Doyle, owner of the bookstore, can be very much like Holmes, although she doesn’t realize it. She’s quick to analyze details, and can be cold at times. Gemma’s still quirky, but she shows a surprising side in this one as she assists an eleven-year-old. When eleven-year-old Lauren shows up at Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, asking for help in finding her lost cat, Snowball, Gemma insists she’s not a consulting detective. Then, Lauren shows up again, and offers Gemma ten dollars to prove Lauren’s mother isn’t a killer. There’s humor, and, of course, a connection to a Sherlock Holmes case in this enjoyable mystery.

I promised a preview of another bookstore-related novel. Vicki Delany’s A Three Book Problem will be released January 11, and you can pre-order it now. A prominent Sherlockian hires Gemma Doyle and Jayne Wilson to cater a traditional English country house weekend. Gemma realizes the guests seem unusual for a Holmes-related weekend, but a poisoned dart soon leads to a murder investigation.

You can look for all of these bookshop-related novels in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/ Don’t forget one of my favorite ones, though, a classic. Christopher Morley’s The Haunted Bookshop was published in 1919. Here’s the summary from the Web Store.

“The Haunted Bookshop is a fast-paced thriller that deserves a modern audience. From unassuming beginnings as a tale about a lovelorn advertising salesman who visits a charming bookstore, The Haunted Bookshop quickly morphs into a story of paranoia, stalking, and kidnapping. “If you are ever in Brooklyn, that borough of superb sunsets and magnificent vistas of husband-propelled baby-carriages, it is to be hoped you may chance upon a quiet by-street where there is a very remarkable bookshop.” In need of a new client, Aubrey Gilbert steps into a bookstore on a quiet Brooklyn street. There, he meets Roger Mifflin, the store’s owner, who inundates the adman with information on the value of books. Although he fails to get Mifflin’s business, Gilbert is drawn to Titania Chapman, the man’s beautiful young assistant who just so happens to be the daughter of Gilbert’s most important client. As mysterious occurrences begin to pile up—a valuable book is stolen, Gilbert is assaulted, and a strange man is found lurking in the alleyway behind the store—it becomes clear that Titania is in grave danger.”

Paige Shelton’s Dark Night is the third book in her Alaska Wild series. This is a thriller series, not the cozy mysteries usually associated with Shelton. There are signed copies of Dark Night available through the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/2p97juv6

Here is the summary of Dark Night.

Dark Night marks the third book in the gripping, atmospheric Alaska Wild series from Paige Shelton, in which Benedict, Alaska is met with some unexpected visitors…and then disappearances.

Winter is falling in the remote town of Benedict, Alaska, and with the cold comes a mysterious guest. The dreaded “census man,” seemingly innocuous, is an unwelcome presence to those members of this secretive community who would prefer to keep their business to themselves. Meanwhile, thriller writer Beth Rivers has received her own unexpected company: her mother. The last Beth heard, Mill Rivers had gone underground in the lower forty-eight, in search of Beth’s kidnapper, and Beth can’t help but be a little alarmed at her appearance: If Mill was able to track down her daughter, who knows who else might be able to?

Beth doesn’t have time to ponder this for long, after a battered woman stumbles into the town bar one night, and her husband is found dead the next morning. Suspicions immediately turn to the census man, but when he, too, goes missing, everyone in Benedict—including the police chief—is suspected, and Beth and Mill must work to uncover the truth.

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PAIGE SHELTON had a nomadic childhood, as her father’s job as a football coach took her family to seven different towns before she was even twelve years old. After college at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, she moved to Salt Lake City. She thought she’d only stay a couple years, but instead she fell in love with the mountains and a great guy who became her husband. After many decades in Utah, she and her family moved to Arizona. She writes the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series and the Alaska Wild series.Her other series include the Farmers’ Market, Cooking School, and Dangerous Type mystery series.

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Enjoy Paige Shelton’s conversation with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.

If you missed the recent virtual event at The Poisoned Pen, you can still catch Robert J. Lloyd talking about his debut, The Bloodless Boy. Lee Child was guest host for the discussion of the historical mystery. You can order copies of this well-reviewed book through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3oark12

Here’s the summary of The Bloodless Boy.

A New York Times Best New Historical Novel of 2021

“Potent… fast-paced…” – The New York Times Book Review

“Wonderfully imagined and wonderfully written . . . Superb!” — Lee Child

Part Wolf Hall, part The Name of the Rose, a riveting new literary thriller set in Restoration London, with a cast of real historic figures, set against the actual historic events and intrigues of the returned king and his court …

The City of London, 1678. New Year’s Day. Twelve years have passed since the Great Fire ripped through the City. Eighteen since the fall of Oliver Cromwell and the restoration of a King. London is gripped by hysteria, and rumors of Catholic plots and sinister foreign assassins abound.

When the body of a young boy drained of his blood is discovered on the snowy bank of the Fleet River, Robert Hooke, the Curator of Experiments at the just-formed Royal Society for Improving Natural Knowledge, and his assistant Harry Hunt, are called in to explain such a ghastly finding—and whether it’s part of a plot against the king. They soon learn it is not the first bloodless boy to have been discovered.

Meanwhile, that same morning Henry Oldenburg, the Secretary of the Royal Society, blows his brains out, and a disgraced Earl is released from the Tower of London, bent on revenge against the King, Charles II.

Wary of the political hornet’s nest they are walking into ““ and using scientific evidence rather than paranoia in their pursuit of truth ““ Hooke and Hunt must discover why the boy was murdered, and why his blood was taken.

The Bloodless Boy is an absorbing literary thriller that introduces two new indelible heroes to historical crime fiction. It is also a powerfully atmospheric recreation of the darkest corners of Restoration London, where the Court and the underworld seem to merge, even as the light of scientific inquiry is starting to emerge …

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Robert Lloyd, the son of parents who worked in the British Foreign Office, grew up in South London, Innsbruck, and Kinshasa.  He studied for a Fine Art degree, starting as a landscape painter, but it was while studying for his 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 now returned to painting and writing. The Bloodless Boy is his debut novel. He is at work on a sequel.

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Enjoy the discussion with Robert Lloyd, Lee Child, and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.

The Poisoned Pen recently welcomed Maegan Beaumont, author of The Darkwater Girls, and Matt Coyle, author of the Rick Cahill novels, including Last Redemption. You can order copies of their books through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s the description of The Darkwater Girls.

Georgia Fell is forced to return to her Michigan island hometown after a decade of military service away from her family. It’s time to end the years of silence and meet her younger sister at a bar on the isolated tip of the island. But Georgia arrives to a scene of devastation: Rachel is dead, purple bruises around her slim, beautiful neck.

Georgia is beside herself with grief. But when the police rule out murder, she knows it can’t be true and vows to hunt down her sister’s killer, no matter the cost. Even if it means turning to the last person she ever wants to see again.

Single dad Lincoln McNamara is the reason Georgia ran away ten years ago, but he has an in with the crew operating out the roadhouse where Rachel was killed. The question is, can she trust him?

But before Georgia can act, her heart shatters at the news that another of her sisters has been murdered. Why would a twisted killer be targeting her family? Are more of the people she loves at risk, and could it be connected to her return? How many more innocent lives will be lost before Georgia uncovers the devastating truth?

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Maegan Beaumont‘s (Phoenix, AZ) longtime love of action movies inspired her to begin writing stories of her own. Carved in Darkness, the first Sabrina Vaughn Novel, was a Suspense Magazine Best Debut of 2013 and a Library Journal Debut of the Month. Beaumont is a member of Sisters in Crime. You can visit her online at Maeganbeaumont.com.

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There are signed copies of Last Redemption available through the Web Store. Here’s the description of the novel.

San Diego Writer’s Festival Mystery Writer of the Year for 2021

Anthony, Shamus, and Lefty Award-winning Author

Will Rick Cahill survive an insidious disease long enough to see his first-born child—or will sadistic killers murder him first?

Rick Cahill is finally living a settled, happy life. His fiancée, Leah Landingham, is pregnant with their first child and he is doing PI work that pays well and keeps him out of danger. Then a doctor gives him the bad news about the headaches he’s been suffering—CTE, the pro football disease that leads to senility and early death—a secret he keeps from Leah and his best friend Moira MacFarlane.

When Moira asks him to monitor her son, Luke—who’s broken a restraining order to stay away from his girl-friend—a simple surveillance explodes into greed, deceit, and murder. Luke goes missing, and Rick’s dogged determination compels him to follow clues that lead to the exploration of high finance and DNA cancer research.

Ultimately, Rick is forced to battle sadistic killers as he tries to find Luke and stay alive long enough to see the birth of his child.

Perfect for fans of Michael Connelly and John Sandford

While all of the novels in the Rick Cahill PI Crime Series stand on their own and can be read in any order, the publication sequence is:

Yesterday’s Echo
Night Tremors
Dark Fissures
Blood Truth
Wrong Light
Lost Tomorrows
Blind Vigil
Last Redemption
Doomed Legacy (coming November 2022)

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Matt Coyle is the best-selling author of the Rick Cahill PI Crime Series. His novels have won the Anthony Award, the Shamus Award, the Lefty Award, the San Diego Book Award, among others, and have been nominated for numerous Anthony, Macavity, Shamus, and Lefty Awards. Last Redemption is the eighth in this award-winning series. Matt is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and lives in San Diego with his yellow Lab, Angus.

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You can watch the Poisoned Pen virtual event here.

Meg Waite Clayton’s latest novel, The Postmistress of Paris, is inspired by a real person. It covers the early days of the German occupation of Paris. Clayton uses slides to discuss her story, and talks about her book and history with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen. You can order a signed copy of the book through the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/mwcesn2r

Here is the description of The Postmistress of Paris.

The New York Times bestselling author of The Last Train to London revisits the dark early days of the German occupation in France in this haunting novel—a love story and a tale of high-stakes danger and incomparable courage—about a young American heiress who helps artists hunted by the Nazis escape from war-torn Europe.

Wealthy, beautiful Naneé was born with a spirit of adventure. For her, learning to fly is freedom. When German tanks roll across the border and into Paris, this woman with an adorable dog and a generous heart joins the resistance. Known as the Postmistress because she delivers information to those in hiding, Naneé uses her charms and skill to house the hunted and deliver them to safety.

Photographer Edouard Moss has escaped Germany with his young daughter only to be interned in a French labor camp. His life collides with Nanée’s in this sweeping tale of romance and danger set in a world aflame with personal and political passion.

Inspired by the real life Chicago heiress Mary Jayne Gold, who worked with American journalist Varian Fry to smuggle artists and intellectuals out of France, The Postmistress of Paris is the haunting story of an indomitable woman whose strength, bravery, and love is a beacon of hope in a time of terror.

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Meg Waite Clayton is the New York Times bestselling author of eight novels, including The Postmistress of Paris (a Publisher’s Weekly notable book; HarperCollins, Nov. 30, 2021), the National Jewish Book Award finalist and international bestseller The Last Train to London, the Langum Award honoree The Race for Paris, the Bellwether Prize finalist The Language of Light, and The Wednesday Sisters, an Entertainment Weekly 25 Essential Best Friend Novels of all time. Her novels have been published in 23 languages. She has also written more than 100 essays, opinions, and reviews for major newspapers, magazines, and public radio. She mentors in the OpEd Project, and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the California bar. megwaiteclayton.com

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You can watch the conversation, and see Meg Waite Clayton’s slides relating to The Postmistress of Paris.

You’ll recognize the names, even if you don’t recognize the faces. In alphabetical order, they are

Rhys Bowen

Lucy Burdette

Deborah Crombie

Hallie Ephron

Jenn McKinlay

Hank Phillippi Ryan

Julia Spencer-Fleming

The mystery authors will be appearing for a virtual event for The Poisoned Pen on Thursday, December 9 at 5 PM MST, 7 PM EST. If you don’t know about Jungle Red Writers, you’ve missed their fun posts about “writing and life”. Find those at https://www.jungleredwriters.com/. You missed conversations with other writers such as Catriona McPherson, Naomi Hirahara, Jennifer Chow. You missed conversations between the group as they talk about food, including leftovers. You also missed their conversations with the many people that follow the daily posts from these wise and witty authors.

But, you don’t have to miss them this time if you log on to listen and watch their conversation on Thursday. And, find their books in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/