Fiction Review

John Charles recently welcomed two mystery authors with connections to Hollywood. Ellen Byron kicks off a new series with A Very Woodsy Murder. Marjorie McCown’s second Hollywood mystery is Star Struck. You can order copies of both books through the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/.

Here’s the description of Byron’s A Very Woodsy Murder.

From Agatha Award-winning author Ellen Byron, a hilarious new series featuring a sitcom writer who has checked out of the familiar comforts in Studio City and checked in to the quaint village of Foundgold to run a motel. Running a rustic getaway in the woods sure beats LA traffic—until murder ruins the peace and quiet . . .

Down-on-her-luck sitcom writer Dee Stern is flipping the script. Twice divorced and wasting her talents on an obnoxious kids’ show, the lifelong Angeleno embraces the urge to jump in her car and keep driving. It’s a road trip with no destination—until she pulls into a mid-century motel filled with cobwebs and retro charm. Nestled in the shadow of a national park, it’s a time capsule of a place that, like her, could use some work. So, in the most impulsive move of her life, Dee teams up with best friend, Jeff Cornetta—who happens to be her first ex-husband—to transform the aging ranch into the Golden Motel-of-the-Mountains, a hiker’s oasis on the edge of the wilderness . . .

But Dee and Jeff soon realize there couldn’t be two people more unprepared for the hospitality business. There’s also the panic-inducing reality of prowling bears and a general store as the only shopping spot for miles. Living and working in the middle of nowhere takes some getting used to—especially when a disrespectful guest ends up murdered! Now, with the motel duo topping the suspect list, Dee must steer clear of a meddling park ranger, face her past in show biz, and determine if the killer is a local or tourist. Because as she quickly finds out, there are many things worse than a one-star review.

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Ellen Byron is the Agatha and Lefty Award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of the Golden Motel Mysteries, the Vintage Cookbook series, and the Cajun Country Mysteries, as well as the Catering Hall Mysteries written under the name Maria DiRico. She is also an award-winning playwright and non-award-winning writer of TV hits like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and The Fairly OddParents, but considers her most impressive achievement working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. A native New Yorker, Ellen is a graduate of Tulane University and lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, daughter, and a rotating crew of rescue pups. Visit her at ellenbyron.com.

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Here’s the summary of McCown’s Star Struck.

Perfect for fans of Elle Cosimano and Kellye Garrett, in this second Hollywood mystery, film costumer Joey Jessop discovers that Hollywood buries its secrets deep when a superstar’s assistant turns up dead.

Costumer Joey Jessop is working on a movie set in 1930s Hollywood and starring two of the world’s biggest stars. The male lead is also a dedicated social activist, and the female lead, Gillian Best, is known for her lifestyle brand. After a hit-and-run near the set, Joey realizes that the car involved belongs to Gillian, and she begins to wonder if the actress has more to hide than her Botox appointments.

Her suspicions deepen when Gillian’s personal assistant, Rita, vows to get revenge for Gillian replacing her and is found dead shortly after. Gillian quickly labels Rita’s death a suicide, and the police seem to agree–but Joey isn’t so sure.

With the police standing aside, it’s up to Joey to dig up the truth—but Hollywood stars know how to keep their secrets close, and a woman like Gillian Best won’t take kindly to someone sniffing around her affairs. Joey is certain that Gillian has something to hide–and she’s determined to find out what.

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Marjorie McCown has spent her entire professional life in the story-telling business, though she started out on the visual side of the craft. She spent more than twenty-five years in Hollywood working as a key member of the costume design teams for a string of successful movies that includes Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, The Firm, A Bronx Tale, Wag the Dog, The Aviator, Hairspray, Angels and Demons, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and X-Men: Days of Future Past. McCown has a BA in theater from the University of Virginia and an AAS in fashion design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. She lives in Southern California.

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Enjoy the conversation with Ellen Byron and Marjorie McCown.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed Jacqueline Winspear to talk about her final Maisie Dobbs mystery, The Comfort of Ghosts. Winspear has appeared at The Poisoned Pen for all her books, including the first one, since 2003 with just a break for COVID. You can order a signed copy of The Comfort of Ghosts through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3X9Hfye.

Here’s the description of The Comfort of Ghosts.

The Comfort of Ghosts completes Jacqueline Winspear’s ground-breaking and internationally bestselling series.

“An outstanding historical series.”—The New York Times

“Winspear is a brilliant writer, mixing the history and the mystery with the psychology of criminals and victims.”—The Historical Novel Society

Psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs unravels a profound mystery from her past in a war-torn nation grappling with its future.

London, 1945: Four adolescent orphans with a dark wartime history are squatting in a vacant Belgravia mansion—the owners having fled London under heavy Luftwaffe bombing. Psychologist and Investigator Maisie Dobbs visits the mansion on behalf of the owners and discovers that a demobilized soldier, gravely ill and reeling from his experiences overseas, has taken shelter with the group.

Maisie’s quest to bring comfort to the youngsters and the ailing soldier brings to light a decades-old mystery concerning Maisie’s first husband, James Compton, who was killed while piloting an experimental fighter aircraft. As Maisie unravels the threads of her dead husband’s life, she is forced to examine her own painful past and question beliefs she has always accepted as true.

The award-winning Maisie Dobbs series has garnered hundreds of thousands of followers, readers drawn to a woman who is of her time, yet familiar in ours—and who inspires with her resilience and capacity for endurance. This final assignment of her own choosing not only opens a new future for Maisie and her family, but serves as a  fascinating portrayal of the challenges facing the people of Britain at the close of the Second World War.

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Jacqueline Winspear is the author of eighteen novels in the award-winning, New York Times, national and international bestselling series featuring psychologist-investigator Maisie Dobbs. In addition, Jacqueline’s 2023 nonseries novel, The White Lady, was a New York Times and national bestseller, and her 2014 WWI novel, The Care and Management of Lies, was again a New York Times and national bestseller, as well as a Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalist. Jacqueline has also published two nonfiction books, What Would Maisie Do? and an Edgar-nominated memoir, This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing.

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Peters shared this letter from Jacqueline Winspear the day of The Poisoned Pen’s event.

Dear Maisie,

I think I’ve earned the privilege of first name terms after twenty-four years together. You certainly changed my life, the day you walked into my imagination while I was stuck in traffic. It never rains in California, it pours, and it was coming down in buckets on that February day in 2000. You must have known I am something of a daydreamer, though as I saw you in my mind’s eye, I felt like one of those buses with a long wire attached to the power lines above—I even felt the shot of electric energy when you presented yourself to me, and as you well know I’ve referred to it as my “moment of artistic grace.” But you already knew that the history of women of your generation—and let’s face it, you blazed a trail in Britain—had fascinated me since childhood. I remember those ladies of a certain age who lived in our small rural community—there was “Miss this” and “Miss that” and for each one there was a sepia photograph in pride of place on the mantelpiece, of a young man lost to war—my grandfather’s war.  Were you keeping an eye on me even then, wondering if I might grow up to become the writer of your story?

On that fateful day (and did you hear that guy yell at me in traffic? “Hey lady, are you waiting for any particular shade of green?”) by the time I reached the office, I had your whole story in my head, and even though I had not written a word of fiction since childhood—sorry, but the personal essay was the love of my literary life—I sat down at my computer as soon as I arrived home that evening and began to write the novel that became Maisie Dobbs. I didn’t even take off my coat, and Sally—my lovely black Labrador—was staring at me, clearly wondering if we would ever get out for her walk. Sal and her successor, Maya, became my writing buddies, sitting under my desk as I wrote one novel after another about your life, about war and about what it means to the soul to see death of a terrible kind.

But a woman has to earn a living, and I know you were disappointed when I landed the new job demanding long days and tons of travel. Some years earlier I had given up more lucrative employment to have time to write—and “sales executive” was the best way to go, because I could wrangle my time and finish early. That role wasn’t well paid, and it came home to roost—I wasn’t getting any younger, had no retirement savings and my car was breaking down. With the new job I had the company car, an expense account, healthcare coverage and a decent salary for the first time in years—but did you really have to take such brutal steps to get me back on track? 

It was such a lovely May morning wasn’t it? Sunny and fresh, so fresh that when you kicked my horse he bucked like crazy with all that joyous springtime energy. Even as I was flying through the air I knew why it was happening—and it’s true what they say, when you’re in a bad accident, time slows down. You were in my thoughts before I hit the ground, sustaining that spiral break on my humerus (not very funny at all), crushing my shoulder, fracturing my scapula and yes, breaking my nose. I remember thinking, “It’s because I gave up Maisie Dobbs for a 401K.”  Mind you, even though I’d only been in the job two weeks, I’d earned enough to pay off Sally’s vet bills—those tick-borne diseases can be a killer! 

Languishing at home with my arm in scaffolding, I knew I had to leave that job, that I had made a huge error, so I resigned. I remember in my mandatory exit interview, when the head of Human Resources said to me, “You know, people don’t usually give up disability income—I don’t know why you had that accident, but I believe it will lead to something quite amazing for you.” Did you give her those words to cheer me on because I was broke in every sense of the word? I bet you had a hand in it.

Maisie, over the years you have woken me at night, insisting “Write this part, now.” And Maurice Blanche, my goodness, what a nag, nudging me on to tell his side of the story, and there’s Billy Beale and Priscilla—you sent them all to encourage me, to tease me and to add to the stories I told in your name, and you knew my research would often break my heart. You became part of my years in such a massive way, with every book heralding a milestone in my life. I’m so glad Elegy for Eddie was published in the year Dad died. You see, the cover reminded him of his childhood, when horses were still hard at work and once you’d crossed into South London or the East End, you hardly saw a car for the horses and carts. I was writing Leaving Everything Most Loved at the time—that was hard on both of us, wasn’t it? I remember weeping after my father died, wishing I’d called the novel “Staying Here and Not Going Anywhere.” 

Telling your story has taken us on many travels. We’ve walked the WW1 battlefields of the Somme and Ypres—sorry I had to take you back there. We’ve spent hours in London’s Imperial War Museum, often after pounding the capital’s streets together, and we’ve motored the byways of my childhood. My parents tramped across the windswept beach at Dungeness in Kent with me, when I was crafting the life of the wartime artist you pressed me to write about for Messenger of Truth—poor man was so wounded by war, I could hardly pen his story. You took me to Spain and Gibraltar so I could imagine you there during the Civil War, and then to Munich just before WW2.  How we made it through reflecting upon the Blitz together, I don’t know, because delving into the ashes of any conflict is not for the faint of heart. Now we have reached the end of our journey. We both knew it was coming. You understood it was important for me to heed that call, to stop when the arc of your all-encompassing story was complete. 

I wish you well, Maisie Dobbs. You touched my heart and you changed my life. I’m off to Berlin later this year. Someone else has walked into my imagination, and I thought I’d better get on with the story, because I now have two horses to care for, one a war horse rescued from Ukraine. He’s still alert to an incoming attack, so I’m careful, not least because along with metal in my right arm and shoulder, there’s that five inch scar, a daily reminder of the last time I stalled in the writing of a woman’s story. 

Farewell, Maisie my friend—and with all my love.

Jacqueline

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Enjoy Winspear’s event for the conclusion of the Maisie Dobbs series. (The video made me cry as Winspear discussed the villages who lost so many all on one day during World War I.)

John Charles often welcomes multiple authors for an authors’ chat at The Poisoned Pen. The latest group of authors write historical mysteries, and they’re published by Crooked Lane Books. You can order the mysteries through the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/.

A Deadly Endeavor is Jenny Adams’ adult mystery debut. Here’s the synopsis.

A serial killer is on the loose in Jazz Age Philadelphia in Jenny Adams’ debut historical mystery, perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn and Rhys Bowen.

Philadelphia, 1921. When Edie Shippen returns home after spending years in California recovering from Influenza, she’s shocked to discover that her childhood sweetheart is engaged to her twin sister. Heartbroken and adrift, Edie vows to begin living her life as a modern woman—and to hell with anyone who gets in her way. But as young women start to disappear from the city,  her newfound independence begins to feel dangerous.

Gilbert Lawless returned home from the Great War a shell of his former self. He hides away in the office of Philadelphia’s Coroner, content to keep to himself until a gruesome series of corpses come into the morgue. And when his sister, Lizzie, goes missing, he risks his career to beg help from the one person Lizzie seemed to trust: her employer, Edie Shippen. 

Fearing the worst, Edie and Gilbert desperately search for clues. It soon becomes clear that Lizzie’s disappearance is connected to the deaths rocking the City of Brotherly Love…and it’s only a matter of time until the killer strikes again.

With a lush Roaring Twenties setting and a wickedly smart sleuth to cheer for, A Deadly Endeavor is the perfect puzzling romp for fans of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.

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Jenny Adams has always had an overactive imagination. She turned her love of books and stories into a career as a librarian and author of novels for adults. She holds degrees in Medieval Studies and Library Science from The Ohio State University and Drexel University, and currently lives in Alexandria, Virginia with her family.

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Katie Tietjen’s mystery is a debut, and it’s based on a real person. Here’s the description of Death in the Details.

Inspired by the real-life mother of forensic science, Frances Glessner Lee, and featuring a whip-smart, intrepid sleuth in post-WWII Vermont, this debut historical mystery will appeal to fans of Victoria Thompson and Rhys Bowen.

Maple Bishop is ready to put WWII and the grief of losing her husband, Bill, behind her. But when she discovers that Bill left her penniless, Maple realizes she could lose her Vermont home next and sets out to make money the only way she knows how: by selling her intricately crafted dollhouses. Business is off to a good start—until Maple discovers her first customer dead, his body hanging precariously in his own barn.

Something about the supposed suicide rubs Maple the wrong way, but local authorities brush off her concerns. Determined to help them see “what’s big in what’s small,” Maple turns to what she knows best, painstakingly recreating the gruesome scene in miniature: death in a nutshell.

With the help of a rookie officer named Kenny, Maple uses her macabre miniature to dig into the dark undercurrents of her sleepy town, where everyone seems to have a secret—and a grudge. But when her nosy neighbor goes missing and she herself becomes a suspect, it’ll be up to Maple to find the devil in the details—and put him behind bars.

Drawing inspiration from true crime and offering readers a smartly plotted puzzle of a mystery, Death in the Details is a stunning series debut.

Katie Tietjen is an award-winning writer, teacher, and school librarian. A Frances Glessner Lee enthusiast, she’s traveled thousands of miles to visit her homes, see her nutshells, and even attend her birthday party. Katie lives in New England with her husband and two sons. This is her first novel.

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Ava January’s historical mystery is The Mayfair Dagger.

A witty, feminist mystery set in the heart of nineteenth-century London, this daring adventure featuring an intrepid woman detective will thrill fans of Deanna Raybourn and Katharine Schellman.

London, 1894. Albertine Honeycombe never wanted a husband and certainly not the one with fifteen children that her cousin, Aubrey, is trying to marry her off to. She reinvents herself as Countess Von Dagga, a private detective aiding the upper echelons of women in society. As the Countess, she is a married woman, with a conveniently absent husband who doesn’t exist, which allows her far more freedom than being single.

When Lord Grendel, from whom she has recovered blackmail letters, is murdered, Albertine is suspect number one—having been the last person to see him. And when the Duke of Erleigh comes looking for her utterly fictitious husband, she realizes she has landed herself in hot water, without a tea bag. When Albertine also becomes the prime suspect in her fictional husband’s death, things are looking grim.

Unless Albertine can prove who murdered Lord Grendel and clear her name, her choices are stepmothering enough small children to start a school or hanging from the end of Her Majesty’s rope.

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Ava January is a historical writer with a passion for mystery, and when she’s not found soaking up the Queensland sun with her two young sons, she can be found eavesdropping on conversations in cafes and making up entire backstories (and murderous intents) for unsuspecting bystanders. When she grows up, she’d like to be Miss Marple.

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Once Upon a Murder is Samantha Larsen’s second Lady Librarian mystery. Here’s the description.

Miss Tiffany Woodall must sleuth the slaying of a footman to clear her beloved’s name in the second Lady Librarian mystery, in the vein of Deanna Raybourn and perfect for fans of Bridgerton.

1784 England. Officially hired as the librarian for the Duchess of Beaufort, Miss Tiffany Woodall is through with masquerades and murders for good. That is, until she stumbles upon the frozen dead body of former footman Mr. Bernard Coram. The speed with which her peaceful new life is upended is one for the record books: the justice of the peace immediately declares her the primary suspect in the murder.

As Tiffany hunts for the truth to clear her name, she learns that Bernard got into a fight over a woman at the local pub the night of his death–but he was also overheard blackmailing Samir. The justice of the peace arrests Samir, and Tiffany realizes that her life may have more in common with a tragic play than a light-hearted romance.

With her love locked up in jail and her own reputation on the line, Tiffany must attempt to solve the murder before the book closes on her or Samir’s life.

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Samantha Larsen has degrees from Brigham Young University, the University of Reading (Berkshire, England), and the University of North Texas. She met her husband in a turkey sandwich line. They live in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she spends most of her time reading, eating popcorn, drinking tea, and chasing her kids.

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Meet all the authors with the recent chat.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 International Thriller Writers Thriller Awards, announced June 1 at Thrillerfest XX. Check out the list, and then check the Webstore for the books. https://store.poisonedpen.com/.

Best Hardcover Novel – S.A. Cosby – All the Sinners Bleed

Best Audiobook – Gregg Hurwitz – The Last Orphan – narrated by Scott Brick

Best First Novel – I.S. Berry – The Peacock and the Sparrow

Best Paperback Original Novel – Luke Dumas – The Paleontologist

Best Short Story – Lisa Unger – Unknown Caller

Best Young Adult Novel – Elizabeth Wein – Stateless

Best e-Book Original Novel – Robert Swartwood – The Killing Room

Other Awards Presented

Thriller Master Award – Tess Gerritsen and Dennis Lehane

Thriller Legend Award – Audible.com

Silver Bullet Award – Louise Penny

John Charles from The Poisoned Pen recently welcomed Kristan Higgins and Jenn McKinlay to the bookstore. Higgins’ new book is Look on the Bright Side. There are signed copies of Higgins’ novel available through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4bITc2p. McKinlay’s latest, Love at First Book, is currently sold out. There are more copies on order, and you can order a copy. https://bit.ly/3VlTiqW.

Here’s the summary of Look on the Bright Side.

From the author of Pack Up the Moon comes a funny, romantic, and deeply moving novel about the unexpected rewards that come from life’s detours.

Lark Smith has always had a plan for her life: find a fantastic guy, create a marriage as blissful as her parents’, pop out a couple of kids and build a rewarding career as an oncologist.

Things aren’t going so well.

For one, the guy didn’t work out. Theoretically, she’d love to find someone else, but it hasn’t happened. Two, she’s just been transferred out of oncology for being too emotional. (Is it her fault she’s a weeper?) Three, her parents just split up.

Deviating from the plan was…well, not in the plan. A potential solution comes from the foul-tempered and renowned surgeon Lorenzo Santini (aka Dr. Satan). He needs a date this summer for his sister’s wedding. His ancient Noni wants to see him settled. In exchange, he could make a few introductions and maybe get Lark back into the field of her choice.

As a sucker for old people and fake relationships, Lark agrees. Teeny problem—she instantly falls for his big, warm family. Especially his estranged brother.

Meanwhile, Lark’s mom has moved in with Lark’s colorful landlady, Joy, and an unlikely friendship blossoms. The three women have a long summer and a big beautiful house on the ocean to figure out what’s next…and quite possibly learn that the best things in life aren’t planned at all.

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Kristan Higgins is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than twenty novels, which have been translated into more than two dozen languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. The happy mother of two snarky and well-adjusted adults lives in Connecticut with her heroic firefighter husband, cuddly dog, and indifferent cat.

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Here’s the description of Jenn McKinlay’s Love at First Book.

When a librarian moves to a quaint Irish village where her favorite novelist lives, the last thing she expects is to fall for the author’s prickly son… until their story becomes one for the books, from the New York Times bestselling author of Summer Reading.

Emily Allen, a librarian on Martha’s Vineyard, has always dreamed of a life of travel and adventure. So when her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, offers her a job in the Emerald Isle, Emily jumps at the opportunity. After all, Siobhan’s novels got Em through some of the darkest days of her existence.

Helping Siobhan write the final book in her acclaimed series—after a ten-year hiatus due to a scorching case of writer’s block—is a dream come true for Emily. If only she didn’t have to deal with Siobhan’s son, Kieran Murphy. He manages Siobhan’s bookstore, and the grouchy bookworm clearly doesn’t want Em around.

Emily persists, and spending her days bantering with the annoyingly handsome mercurial Irishman only makes her fall more deeply in love with the new life she’s built – and for the man who seems to soften toward her with every quip she throws at him. But when she discovers the reason for Kieran’s initial resistance, Em finds herself torn between helping Siobhan find closure with her series and her now undeniable feelings for Kier. As Siobhan’s novel progresses, Emily will have to decide if she’s truly ready to turn a new page and figure out what lies in the next chapter.

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Jenn McKinlay is the award-winning New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of several mystery and romance series. Her work has been translated into multiple languages in countries all over the world. She lives in sunny Arizona in a house that is overrun with kids, pets, and her husband’s guitars.

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Both authors talk about their new books. Enjoy the conversations and the humor.

Patrick Millikin welcomed Brian Panowich to The Poisoned Pen for a virtual event to discuss his latest book, Nothing But the Bones. There are signed copies available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4aJwGoW.

Here’s the description of Nothing But the Bones.

With lyrical prose and hard-hitting depictions of the hardscrabble life in the rural south, Brian Panowich, author of Bull Mountain, Like Lions, and Hard Cash Valley, delivers a gripping new chapter in his tales of McFalls County in Nothing But the Bones.

In McFalls County, local crime boss Gareth Burroughs runs everything on the mountain. And Nelson “Nails” McKenna has been his enforcer since he was a teenager, though his heart’s not really in the dirty work. Then one night in a local roadhouse, Nails goes too far, defending a woman, and even Burroughs’s reach can’t get him out of this one. With a dead body and countless witnesses, Nails and the woman become fugitives on the run, and unlikely partners.

But on the road to Jacksonville, where a possible escape awaits, there’s more than one interested party on the pair’s trail, and the glimpse they had of getting away scot free suddenly seems elusive. In the end, Nails must make one final stand for his freedom—or pay with both of their lives.

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Brian Panowich is an award winning author, a Georgia firefighter, and a father to four incredible children. His first novel, Bull Mountain, was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, ITW Thriller Award winner for Best First Novel, Southern Book Prize winner, and a finalist for both the Anthony and the Barry Awards. He lives in Georgia with his family.

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Enjoy the conversation with Brian Panowich.

Congratulations to the nominees for the Macavity Awards. The Macavity Awards are nominated and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International. Check the list, and then check the Webstore for copies of the books. https://store.poisonedpen.com/.

Macavity Nominees 2024

For works published in 2023

Best Mystery

Dark Ride by Lou Berney
Hide by Tracy Clark
All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
Murder Book by Thomas Perry
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead

Best First Mystery

The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry
The Golden Gate by Amy Chua
Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy
Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji
Dutch Threat by Josh Pachter

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery

Time’s Undoing by Cheryl Head
Evergreen by Naomi Hirahara
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
Our Lying Kin by Claudia Hagadus Long
The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Best Mystery-related Nonfiction/Critical

Finders: Justice, Faith, and Identity in Irish Crime Fiction by Anjili Babbar
Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction by Max Allan Collins and James L. Traylor
A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak
Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux
Fallen Angel: The Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Robert Morgan

Because most of short stories are from magazines, they’re not listed here. Check Mystery Fanfare for the Best Mystery Short Story nominees.

“Fiendishly clever.” That’s how John Charles from The Poisoned Pen described both Stuart Turton and Ruth Ware. Charles welcomed Ware for her first live event at the bookstore, and Turton for his return. Turton’s new book is The Last Murder at the End of the World. Ware’s latest is One Perfect Couple. There are signed copies of both books available in the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/.

Here’s the description of One Perfect Couple.

Harkening to Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None, this high-tension and ingenious thriller follows five couples trapped on a storm-swept island as a killer stalks among them—from Ruth Ware, the New York Times bestselling author who “is turning out to be as ingenious and indefatigable as the Queen of Crime” (The Washington Post).

Lyla is in a bit of a rut. Her post-doctoral research has fizzled out, she’s pretty sure they won’t extend her contract, and things with her boyfriend, Nico, an aspiring actor, aren’t going great. When the opportunity arises for Nico to join the cast of a new reality TV show, One Perfect Couple, she decides to try out with him. A whirlwind audition process later, Lyla find herself whisked off to a tropical paradise with Nico, boating through the Indian Ocean towards Ever After Island, where the two of them will compete against four other couples—Bayer and Angel, Dan and Santana, Joel and Romi, and Conor and Zana—in order to win a cash prize.

But not long after they arrive on the deserted island, things start to go wrong. After the first challenge leaves everyone rattled and angry, an overnight storm takes matters from bad to worse. Cut off from the mainland by miles of ocean, deprived of their phones, and unable to contact the crew that brought them there, the group must band together for survival. As tensions run high and fresh water runs low, Lyla finds that this game show is all too real—and the stakes are life or death.

A fast-paced, spellbinding thriller rife with intrigue and characters that feel so true to life, this novel proves yet again that Ruth Ware is the queen of psychological suspense.

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Ruth Ware worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language, and a press officer before settling down as a full-time writer. She now lives with her family in Sussex, on the south coast of England. She is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail (Toronto) bestselling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood; The Woman in Cabin 10; The Lying Game; The Death of Mrs. Westaway; The Turn of the Key; One by One; The It Girl; and Zero Days. Visit her at RuthWare.com or follow her on X @RuthWareWriter.

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Here’s the description of The Last Murder at the End of the World.

FIRST PRINT RUN WITH SPRAYED EDGES!

From the bestselling author of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Devil and the Dark Water comes an inventive, high-concept murder mystery: an ingenious puzzle, an extraordinary backdrop, and an audacious solution.

Solve the murder to save what’s left of the world.

Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched.

On the island: it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers and three scientists, living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, to obey their nightly curfew, to do what they’re told by the scientists.

Until, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death. And then they learn that the murder has triggered a lowering of the security system around the island, the only thing that was keeping the fog at bay. If the murder isn’t solved within 107 hours, the fog will smother the island—and everyone on it.

But the security system has also wiped everyone’s memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer—and they don’t even know it.

And the clock is ticking.

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STUART TURTON is a freelance journalist who lives in West London with his wife. Stuart is not to be trusted—in the nicest possible way. The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is his first novel.

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Enjoy the conversation with Stuart Turton and Ruth Ware.

The recent event with Craig Johnson was off-site from The Poisoned Pen, and there were Internet issues. You can watch part of the event on YouTube below. And, you can still order signed copies of his latest book, First Frost, through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4bzLV50

Here’s the description of the new Longmire book, First Frost.

The past and future collide in this gripping new addition to the beloved New York Times bestselling Longmire series.

It’s the summer of 1964, and recent college graduates Walt Longmire and Henry Standing Bear read the writing on the wall and enlist to serve in the Vietnam War. As they catch a few final waves in California before reporting for duty, a sudden storm assaults the shores and capsizes a nearby cargo boat. Walt and Henry jump to action, but it’s soon revealed by the police who greet them ashore that the sunken boat carried valuable contraband from underground sources.

The boys, in their early twenties and in the peak of their physical prowess from playing college football for the last four years, head out on Route 66. The question, of course, is how far they will get before the consequences of their actions catch up to them—the answer being, not very.

Back in the present day, Walt is forced to speak before a Judge following the fatal events of The Longmire Defense. With powerful enemies lurking behind the scenes, the sheriff of Absaroka County must consider his options if he wishes to finish the fight he started.

Going back and forth between 1964 and the present day, Craig Johnson brings us a propulsive dual timeline as Walt Longmire stands between the crossfire of good and evil, law and anarchy, and compassion and cruelty at two pivotal stages in his life.

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Craig Johnson is the New York Times bestselling author of the Longmire mysteries, the basis for the hit Netflix original series Longmire. He is the recipient of the Western Writers of America Spur Award for fiction and the Mountain & Plains Independent Booksellers Association’s Reading the West Book Award for fiction. His novella Spirit of Steamboat was the first One Book Wyoming selection. He lives in Ucross, Wyoming, population 26.

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Enjoy this short snippet of Craig Johnson’s discussion.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, interviewed Jaclyn Goldis about her latest book, The Main Character, but they also discussed quality train travel and the Orient Express. Check out the video for the discussion. You can order a copy of The Main Character through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/451Mx0W

Here’s the description of The Main Character.

“Rollicking good fun.” —The Wall Street Journal

A bestselling thriller author arranges a luxury train trip that is not what it appears to be in this electrifying modern homage to Agatha Christie from the author of the “tense and twisty” (Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author) The Chateau.

Reclusive, mysterious author Ginevra Ex is famous for her unusual approach to crafting her big bestselling thrillers: she hires real people and conducts intensive interviews, then fictionalizes them. Her latest main character, Rory, is thrilled when Ginevra presents her with an extravagant bonus—a lavish trip along Italy’s Mediterranean coast on the famed, newly renovated Orient Express. But when Rory boards the train, she’s stunned to discover that her brother, her best friend, and even her ex-fiancé are passengers, as well. All invited by Ginevra, all hiding secrets.

With each stop, from Cinque Terre to Rome to Positano, it becomes increasingly clear that Ginevra has masterminded the ultimate real life twisty plot with Rory as her main character. And as Ginevra’s deceptions mount, and the lies and machinations of Rory’s travel companions pile up, Rory begins to fear that her trip will culminate like one of Ginevra’s books: with a murder or two. In the opulent compartments of the iconic train, Rory must untangle the shocking reasons why Ginevra wanted them all aboard—and to what deadly end.

Another stylish and compulsively readable mystery from Jaclyn Goldis, this is the perfect read for fans of Ruth Ware, Lucy Foley, and Paula Hawkins.

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Jaclyn Goldis is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and NYU School of Law. She practiced estate planning law at a large Chicago firm for seven years before leaving her job to travel the world and write novels. After culling her possessions into only what would fit in a backpack, she traveled for over a year until settling in Tel Aviv, where she can often be found writing from cafés near the beach. She is the author of The Chateau and The Main Character.

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Enjoy the discussion of trains and thrillers.