Fiction Review

It’s an honor to introduce you to David Heska Wanbli Weiden, who agreed to write about his recent book “Distractions” for us. His debut crime novel, Winter Counts, will be released on Tuesday, August 25. On Monday, August 24, he’ll be the guest author for one of The Poisoned Pen’s virtual events, with William Kent Krueger as guest host. Watch live on Facebook at 9 PM ET, 6 PM MT. If I were you, I’d reserve a signed copy of Winter Counts now because I suspect they’ll go quickly. You can order it through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2Yt8F3h

David Heska Wanbli Weiden, an enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakota nation, is author of the novel WINTER COUNTS (Ecco/HarperCollins, forthcoming August 25, 2020), chosen as one of 2020’s most anticipated books by Library Journal, USA Today, CrimeReads, BuzzFeed, The Rumpus, Electric Lit, Betches, Lit Hub, The Millions, and Book Riot, and receiving rave reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Booklist.

WINTER COUNTS is the story of a local Native American enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation who becomes obsessed with finding and stopping the dealer who is bringing increasingly dangerous drugs into his community.  It’s a Native thriller, an examination of the broken criminal justice system on reservations, and a meditation on Native identity.  Benjamin Percy, author of The Dark Net, says, “The full-throttle, can’t-put-it-downness of this novel is a fact.  WINTER COUNTS is a hell of a gripping debut, perfectly plotted, and David Heska Wanbli Weiden is a major new voice in crime fiction, indigenous fiction, and American literature.”

Weiden is also the author of the children’s book SPOTTED TAIL (Reycraft, 2019), a biography of the great Lakota leader and winner of the 2020 Spur Award from the Western Writers of America.  He’s published in Shenandoah, Yellow Medicine Review, Transmotion, Criminal Class Review, Tribal College Journal, and other magazines.  He’s the fiction editor for Anomaly, journal of international literature and arts, and he teaches writing at the Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver.

He received his MFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts, his law degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, and his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. He’s an alumnus of VONA, a Tin House Scholar, a MacDowell Colony Fellow, a Ragdale Foundation resident, and received the PEN/America Writing for Justice Fellowship.  He’s an active member of the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Western Writers of America, and the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers.  He’s Professor of Native American Studies and Political Science at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and lives in Colorado with his two sons.

*****

All of David Heska Wanbli Weiden’s book suggestions can be found in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

*****

Here’s the bio Weiden actually sent.

Bio:  David is an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota nation in South Dakota and lives in Denver, Colorado, with his family. He’s the father of two teenage boys, one of whom is just learning how to drive! A professor of Native American Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver, he spends his free time writing and listening to alternative rock music and classic jazz. His favorite film is Goodfellas, which he’s seen dozens of times, and his second favorite is the cult classic Repo Man.

Introduction:

Like so many others, the pandemic changed my reading habits. When the shutdown first occurred, I was too distracted to do any serious reading, so I binged on movies and television shows that I’d been meaning to watch. But eventually I began to crave the sort of narrative tension that only a good novel can provide. Happily, I’ve found a number of excellent books that I can wholeheartedly recommend.

This Tender Land

by William Kent Krueger

I’ve just started reading this wonderful novel, and I’m absolutely blown away by it. Set in 1932, it’s the story of two young boys, Odie and Albert, who are forced to enroll in the Lincoln Indian Training School even though they are not Native. Krueger’s attention to historical detail, his sharp dialogue, and the lyrical prose make this a must-read. The book has special resonance for me, as my maternal grandmother was enrolled in the most infamous Native American boarding school, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. There, Native kids were forced to abandon their language, culture, and spirituality, all in the name of “civilizing” these young children. Krueger’s book gives a sense of what it was like back then.

Blacktop Wasteland

by S.A. Cosby

I’m about halfway through this gripping thriller, and it’s clear that this book deserves all the attention it’s received. Beauregard “Bug” Montage is a husband and father who’s trying to leave his criminal past behind him. But, beset by financial difficulties, he’s tempted by one final job. You’ll love the action in this novel, but it’s the voice of Bug and the other characters that will keep you reading. This is an essential novel in the new wave of crime fiction.

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee

by David Treuer

Not a novel, this book—nominated for the National Book Award–is a work of popular history and cultural commentary on Native America, from the time of the first European explorers in North America up until the present day. Treuer explores the different eras of American Indian history, blending memoir and reportage with historical synthesis. It took me a long time to finish this book, as I gave it a very close reading. I’m a professor of Native American Studies, yet I found new insights in nearly every chapter. The value of the book, in my opinion, is Treuer’s willingness to provide commentary on the historical events that he describes. I read a lot of academic textbooks and journal articles which adopt a dry and neutral style that saps the vitality from the prose. But this book is anything but dry–Treuer’s insightful observations will keep you thinking and reflecting on the past and future of American Indians.

You Again

by Debra Jo Immergut

I was a big fan of Immergut’s last book, The Captives, and this novel is another astounding literary thriller. The concept of the book is amazing:  a woman, Abby Willard, spots her 22-year-old self walking down the street. She’s stunned and astonished by this vision, if that’s what it is, and ponders whether to tell her husband what she’s seen. And then Abby sees herself again. That’s the set-up to this gripping book, which shines in narrative tension and the enthralling voice of the narrator, Abby, who struggles to balance family and job pressures while dealing with the reappearance of her younger self. I’m already hooked, and I know I’m in for some sleepless nights as I unravel the mystery of this compelling literary puzzle.

Crooked Hallelujah

by Kelli Jo Ford

A novel in stories, I’ve been parceling these out to myself slowly, one chapter every couple of days so I can savor them. The tale of four generations of Cherokee women, the book is a marvel of lyrical prose, evocative setting, and unforgettable characters. The first story, “Book of the Generations,” deals with Justine, a teenager living with her mother after her father abandons the family. Justine is struggling to find her way in 1974 rural Oklahoma, and she sneaks out one night to meet an older boy. It’s not a spoiler to disclose that she becomes pregnant, but her emotional journey afterwards will surprise you and leave you wanting to learn more about these women and the arc of their lives. For those in search of a character-driven story collection, this book will not disappoint. Highly recommended.

*****

Here’s the summary of David Heska Wanbli Weiden’s Winter Counts. As I said, you might want to order it early.

“Winter Counts is a marvel. It’s a thriller with a beating heart and jagged teeth. This book is a brilliant meditation on power and violence, and a testament to just how much a crime novel can achieve. Weiden is a powerful new voice. I couldn’t put it down.”  
—Tommy Orange, author of There There

A Recommended Read from:
Buzzfeed * Electric Literature * Lit Hub * Shondaland * Publishers Weekly

A groundbreaking thriller about a vigilante on a Native American reservation who embarks on a dangerous mission to track down the source of a heroin influx. 

Virgil Wounded Horse is the local enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota.  When justice is denied by the American legal system or the tribal council, Virgil is hired to deliver his own punishment, the kind that’s hard to forget. But when heroin makes its way into the reservation and finds Virgil’s nephew, his vigilantism suddenly becomes personal. He enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend and sets out to learn where the drugs are coming from, and how to make them stop.

They follow a lead to Denver and find that drug cartels are rapidly expanding and forming new and terrifying alliances. And back on the reservation, a new tribal council initiative raises uncomfortable questions about money and power. As Virgil starts to link the pieces together, he must face his own demons and reclaim his Native identity. He realizes that being a Native American in the twenty-first century comes at an incredible cost.

Winter Counts is a tour-de-force of crime fiction, a bracingly honest look at a long-ignored part of American life, and a twisting, turning story that’s as deeply rendered as it is thrilling.

David Joy’s When These Mountains Burn is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. If you want a signed copy, you should reserve it now. You can order Joy’s books, including When These Mountains Burn, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2BhRPLk

You might want to order it now, not only because it’s the Hot Book of the Week, but because David Joy will be appearing in a virtual event on Wednesday, August 19 at 9 PM ET, 6 PM MT. You can watch the event on Facebook Live.

Here’s the background on David Joy and his latest book.

David Joy is the author of the Edgar nominated novel Where All Light Tends To Go (Putnam, 2015), as well as the novels The Weight Of This World (Putnam, 2017) and The Line That Held Us (Putnam, 2018). He is also the author of the memoir Growing Gills: A Fly Fisherman’s Journey (Bright Mountain Books, 2011), which was a finalist for the Reed Environmental Writing Award and the Ragan Old North State Award.

Joy is the recipient of an artist fellowship from the North Carolina Arts Council. His latest short stories and essays have appeared in Time, The New York Times Magazine, Garden & Gun, and The Bitter Southerner.

Joy lives in the North Carolina mountains.

*****

Acclaimed author and “remarkably gifted storyteller” (The Charlotte Observer) David Joy returns with a fierce and tender tale of a father, an addict, a lawman, and the explosive events that come to unite them.

When his addict son gets in deep with his dealer, it takes everything Raymond Mathis has to bail him out of trouble one last time. Frustrated by the slow pace and limitations of the law, Raymond decides to take matters into his own hands.

After a workplace accident left him out of a job and in pain, Denny Rattler has spent years chasing his next high. He supports his habit through careful theft, following strict rules that keep him under the radar and out of jail. But when faced with opportunities too easy to resist, Denny makes two choices that change everything.

For months, the DEA has been chasing the drug supply in the mountains to no avail, when a lead–just one word–sets one agent on a path to crack the case wide open . . . but he’ll need help from the most unexpected quarter.

As chance brings together these men from different sides of a relentless epidemic, each may come to find that his opportunity for redemption lies with the others.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently hosted authors Matt Goldman and David Ricciardi. Goldman is the author of Dead West, the fourth Nils Shapiro mystery. Ricciardi’s Black Flag is the third thriller featuring CIA officer Jake Keller. Peters asked both men to talk about their books, knowing reviewers said both books are a step up for the authors. You can order signed copies of both books through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

You can watch the virtual event here.

Here’s the description of Matt Goldman’s Dead West.

n the words of Lee Child on Gone to Dust, “I want more of Nils Shapiro.” New York Times-bestselling and Emmy Award-winning author Matt Goldman happily obliges by bringing the Minneapolis private detective back for another thrilling, standalone adventure in Dead West.

Nils Shapiro accepts what appears to be an easy, lucrative job: find out if Beverly Mayer’s grandson is foolishly throwing away his trust fund in Hollywood, especially now, in the wake of his fiancée’s tragic death. However, that easy job becomes much more complicated once Nils arrives in Los Angeles, a disorienting place where the sunshine hides dark secrets.

Nils quickly suspects that Ebben Mayer’s fiancée was murdered, and that Ebben himself may have been the target. As Nils moves into Ebben’s inner circle, he discovers that everyone in Ebben’s professional life—his agent, manager, a screenwriter, a producer—seem to have dubious motives at best.

With Nils’ friend Jameson White, who has come to Los Angeles to deal with demons of his own, acting as Ebben’s bodyguard, Nils sets out to find a killer before it’s too late.

*****

Black Flag is David Ricciardi’s latest book.

CIA officer Jake Keller faces stakes that are very high and very personal in the latest electrifying thriller from the author of Rogue Strike.

After years of relative calm, piracy has returned to the high sea.
 
But the days of AK-47s and outboard engines are over. The new pirates hit like a SEAL team. Highly trained, and using cutting edge technology, they make sure their victims are never heard from again.
 
Ships and crews are vanishing at a staggering rate.
 
As the threat to international shipping grows, U.S. authorities become determined to find the source of this new danger.
 
Jake Keller has a plan—to lure the pirate mastermind out of hiding by infiltrating his organization—but it’s a dangerous gambit, made more so by Jake’s personal involvement with the beautiful heiress to a Greek shipping fortune and an ulterior agenda coming out of CIA headquarters.
 
As the threats close in from all sides, Jake finds himself faced with a familiar choice: back off, or go on the offensive.
 
His fate, and the fate of a nation, hang on his decision.

Here’s a short introduction of Ariel Sabar. ARIEL SABAR is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, The Washington Post, and many other publications. He is the author of My Father’s Paradise: A Son’s Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Sabar’s latest book is Veritas: A Harvard Professor, A Con Man and the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently talked with Ariel Sabar about this book, the background, and his investigation. Sabar told the story of his book. You can order a copy of the book through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3iH1xYt

From National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author Ariel Sabar, the gripping true story of a sensational religious forgery and the scandal that shook Harvard.

In 2012, Dr. Karen King, a star professor at Harvard Divinity School, announced a blockbuster discovery at a scholarly conference just steps from the Vatican: She had found an ancient fragment of papyrus in which Jesus calls Mary Magdalene “my wife.” The tattered manuscript made international headlines. If early Christians believed Jesus was married, it would upend the 2,000-year history of the world’s predominant faith, threatening not just the celibate, all-male priesthood but sacred teachings on marriage, sex and women’s leadership. Biblical scholars were in an uproar, but King had impeccable credentials as a world-renowned authority on female figures in the lost Christian texts from Egypt known as the Gnostic gospels. “The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife”–as she provocatively titled her discovery–was both a crowning career achievement and powerful proof for her arguments that Christianity from its start embraced alternative, and far more inclusive, voices.

As debates over the manuscript’s authenticity raged, award-winning journalist Ariel Sabar set out to investigate a baffling mystery: where did this tiny scrap of papyrus come from? His search for answers is an international detective story–leading from the factory districts of Berlin to the former headquarters of the East German Stasi before winding up in rural Florida, where he discovered an internet pornographer with a prophetess wife, a fascination with the Pharaohs and a tortured relationship with the Catholic Church.

VERITAS is a tale of fierce intellectual rivalries at the highest levels of academia, a piercing psychological portrait of a disillusioned college dropout whose life had reached a breaking point, and a tragedy about a brilliant scholar handed a piece of scripture that embodied her greatest hopes for Christianity–but forced a reckoning with fundamental questions about the nature of truth and the line between reason and faith.

*****

If you like true detective stories, you’ll want to listen to Ariel Sabar discuss Veritas and his research.

When I think of Alyssa Maxwell’s books, I immediately think of the Gilded Newport mysteries. Her August 25 release, Murder at Kingscote, is the eighth book in that series. But, she’s also written five A Lady & Lady’s Maid mysteries. You can find Maxwell’s books in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2Y0vOcV

Alyssa Maxwell began a love affair with the city of Newport years ago. Time and again the colonial neighborhoods and grand mansions drew her to return, and on one of those later visits she met the man who would become her husband. Always a lover of history, Maxwell found that marrying into a large, generations”‘-old Newport family opened up an exciting new world of historical discovery. Today, she and her husband reside in Florida, but part of her heart remains firmly in that small New England city of great historical significance. For more info please visit www.alyssamaxwell.com.

Look for Alyssa Maxwell’s book suggestions in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

*****

I always say that if I only read books by friends, I would never run out of great reading material. The friends I’ve made through writing are some of the most generous and supportive I’ve ever known, and among the most talented. So, it’s not out of obligation that I read their books, but sheer pleasure. And reading a story written by a friend is a little like having that friend over to visit at a time when social distancing defines our lives. For the most part, I’ve kept my reading light. Cozies might involve murder, but they’re much more about solving the puzzle and getting to know characters who in many ways are just like ourselves. They make us feel less alone in times when there seem to be so few answers. So then, here are a few of the books that have kept me company and sane during the pandemic.

A Shadowed Fate, A Claire Clairmont Mystery book 2, by Marty Ambrose

A shocking revelation from an old friend leads Claire Clairmont on a dangerous quest in this second in a fascinating historical trilogy based on the “˜summer of 1816′ Byron/Shelley group.

1873, Florence. Claire Clairmont, the last survivor of the “˜haunted summer of 1816′ Byron/Shelley circle, is reeling from the series of events triggered by the arrival of Michael Rossetti two weeks before, which culminated in a brutal murder and a shocking revelation from her old friend, Edward Trewlany.

Stunned by her betrayal at the hands of those closest to her, Claire determines to travel to the convent at Bagnacavallo near Ravenna to learn the true fate of Allegra, her daughter by Lord Byron. But the valuable Cades sketch given to her by Rossetti is stolen, and Claire soon finds herself shadowed at every turn and in increasing danger as she embarks on her quest. Is the theft linked to Allegra, and can Claire uncover what really happened in Ravenna so many years ago?

“Marty Ambrose does a beautiful job of bringing these literary figures to life and making them human, relatable individuals, brilliant but fallible at the same time. They might not always act the way we would want them too, but that only makes them more real. Filled with beautiful prose, gorgeous setting details, deep characterizations, mystery, danger, and redemption.”

Murder at Blackwater Bend, A Stella and Lyndy Mystery book 2, by Clara McKenna

Wild-hearted Kentuckian Stella Kendrick cautiously navigates the strict demands of British high society as the future Lady of Morrington Hall. But when petty scandals lead to bloody murder, her outspoken nature could be all that keeps her alive . . .

Following a whirlwind engagement to Viscount “Lyndy” Lyndhurst, Stella is finding her footing within an elite social circle in picturesque rural England. Except tea time with refined friends can be more dangerous than etiquette faux pas—especially in the company of Lady Philippa, the woman Lyndy was once set to marry, and her husband, the ostentatious Lord Fairbrother . . .

Outrage erupts and accusations fly after Lord Fairbrother’s pony wins best in breed for the seventh consecutive year. The man has his share of secrets and adversaries, but Stella and Lyndy are in for a brutal shock when they discover his body floating in the river during a quiet morning fishing trip . . .

Suddenly unwelcome around hardly-grieving Lady Philippa and Lyndy’s endlessly critical mother, Stella faces the bitter reality that she may always be an outsider—and one of her trusted new acquaintances may be a calculating killer. Now, Stella and her fiancé must fight against the current to catch the culprit, before they’re the next couple torn apart by tragedy.

“It might sound funny to say a book about murder can also be a feel-good story, but that’s exactly the case here. As in the first book, you can’t help but smile, and then applaud, as American heiress Stella Kendrick continues to confound stuffy British society with her ingenuous charm and unbridled optimism. While her mother-in-law to be schemes to break the engagement between Stella and her son, the once-cynical Lyndy shows his deepening love and admiration for his intended in ways that warm the heart. The murder mystery is well crafted, with suspects from all levels of society and motives that range from infidelity to fraud to land rights in the New Forest, a setting Clara McKenna brings beautifully to life.”

No Quiet Among the Shadows, A Mystery of Old San Francisco book 3, by Nancy Herriman

In a new Mystery of Old San Francisco, Celia and Nick must look for answers among the dead to stop a killer among the living . . . (Note: Unfortunately, this book is not available through the Web Store.)

With the city’s Fourth of July celebrations in full swing, Celia Davies has stolen a moment away from her nursing duties to take in the festive spectacle, but is stunned when she spots the one person she thought she’d never see again—her supposedly dead husband, Patrick. Moments later, the investigator who had confirmed Patrick’s death is killed when he suspiciously falls from a high window, and Celia begins to fear that the roguish man she married has returned to haunt her life once again.

Joining forces with Detective Nick Greaves to get to the bottom of the mystery, Celia is soon drawn into a murky séance group, where the voices of the dead suggest that everyone involved in the case is engaged in some sort of fraud or deception. Determined to discover which of them might be a murderer, Celia and Nick will find themselves following a trail of clues that leads them down dark alleys into a shadowy tangle of spiritualism, altered identities, traumatic pasts, and secrets worth killing for . . .

“I loved the first two books in this series and I was delighted to be back on another adventure with Celia, Nick, and the rest of an endearing cast of characters. I loved Celia’s dedication to her patients and stiff upper lipped determination to do what’s right, and Nick’s gentlemanly regard for her combined with his conflicted view of wanting to protect her while acknowledging that she’s a capable individual. San Francisco of the 1860s comes so vividly to life with all its sights, sounds, and smells, the reader will feel they’re right there on the streets with the characters, helping to solve the murder. The added mystery of Celia’s husband possibly returning from “the dead” adds a secondary layer of intrigue and the promise of more to come in the series.”

Here Comes the Body, by Maria DiRico

After her philandering husband’s boat went down, newly single Mia Carina went back to Astoria, the bustling Queens neighborhood of her youth. Living with her nonna and her oversized cat, Doorstop, she’s got a whole new life—including some amateur sleuthing . .

Mia is starting work at Belle View, her father’s catering hall, a popular spot for weddings, office parties, and more—despite the planes that occasionally roar overhead on their way to LaGuardia and rattle the crystal chandelier. Soon she’s planning a bachelor party for a less-than-gentlemanly groom. But it goes awry when the gigantic cake is wheeled in and a deadly surprise is revealed . . .

Since some of her family’s associates are on the shady side, the NYPD wastes no time in casting suspicion on Mia’s father. Now, Mia’s going to have to use all her street smarts to keep him out of Rikers Island . . .

“Having lived in Queens as a child, reading this book was a bit like going home. I found the setting immediately recognizable, and the characters and sights sparked memories of my own childhood, which is to say the details felt completely authentic. But if I came for the memories, I stayed for the humor and the fun of watching everything go wrong that can go wrong in Mia Carina’s life, forcing her to relearn how to navigate (because she’s been away), all the social nuances of being an “outer borroughs” girl in New York City. Luckily Mia, and Maria DiRico, know how to find the humor in any situation, which makes this a perfect escape read on a summer’s afternoon.”

*****

Let me introduce you to the latest book in both of Alyssa Maxwell’s series, if you haven’t yet read them. As I said, they can both be found in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2Y0vOcV

Murder at Kingscote, the eighth book in the Gilded Newport Mystery series will be released August 25. You can pre-order it now.

In late nineteenth-century Newport, Rhode Island, journalist Emma Cross discovers the newest form of transportation has become the newest type of murder weapon . . .

On a clear July day in 1899, the salty ocean breeze along Bellevue Avenue carries new smells of gasoline and exhaust as Emma, now editor-in-chief of the Newport Messenger, covers Newport’s first-ever automobile parade. But the festive atmosphere soon turns to shock as young Philip King drunkenly swerves his motorcar into a wooden figure of a nanny pushing a pram on the obstacle course.
 
That evening, at a dinner party hosted by Ella King at her magnificent Gothic-inspired “cottage,” Kingscote, Emma and her beau Derrick Andrews are enjoying the food and the company when Ella’s son staggers in, obviously still inebriated. But the disruption is nothing compared to the urgent shouts of the coachman. Rushing out, they find the family’s butler pinned against a tree beneath the front wheels of Philip’s motorcar, close to death.
 
At first, the tragic tableau appears to be a reckless accident—one which could ruin Philip’s reputation. But when Emma later receives a message informing her that the butler bullied his staff and took advantage of young maids, she begins to suspect the scene may have been staged and steers the police toward a murder investigation. But while Emma investigates the connections between a competing heir for the King fortune, a mysterious child, an inmate of an insane asylum, and the brutal boxing rings of Providence, a killer remains at large—with unfinished business to attend to.

*****

A Silent Stabbing is the fifth A Lady and Lady’s Maid Mystery. The next one will be released in January.

As England recovers from its costly involvement in the Great War, Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady’s maid, Eva Huntford, find the steady comforts of their lives unsettled by a local case of murder . . .

Eva is excited for a visit from her sister Alice, who lives in Suffolk with her husband and three children. But when Alice arrives alone, desiring a break from her family, Eva becomes concerned. Her dismay deepens as Alice starts spending time with a former beau, Keenan Ripley, who owns the nearby pear orchard. At the same time, Phoebe’s sister Julia, now a widow and pregnant, is in a fretful state, and Phoebe struggles to be helpful to her.
 
When Keenan’s brother Stephen, the new head gardener at the Renshaw estate, Foxwood Hall, is found impaled by a pair of hedge clippers, the police—including Eva’s beau, Constable Miles Brannock—suspect his closest kin. Stephen had been eager to sell their orchard to an American developer, but Keenan had fiercely resisted. A table set with two teacups and scones suggests Keenan had company the morning of the murder—and Eva fears her sister was with him.
 
If Alice were to provide Keenan with an alibi, her reputation and marriage would be ruined. She denies being there but is clearly withholding secrets, much to Eva’s consternation. Now, to protect her sister, Eva and Phoebe set off to expose the gardener’s real killer, putting their own lives at risk . . 

Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen warns there are only a few signed copies left of T. Jefferson Parker’s latest book, Then She Vanished. So, you’ll want to order soon through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3kELdt5

Then She Vanished is the fourth book in the Roland Ford series, the latest by the three-time Edgar Award-winner. Millikin and Parker talk about the author’s books and California. Enjoy the conversation here.

If you skip the video, here’s the summary of Then She Vanished.

What if the client who’s hired you can’t be trusted…and the woman you’re looking for doesn’t want to be found? With Then She Vanished, three-time Edgar Award winner and New York Times-bestselling author T. Jefferson Parker delivers a new and pulse-pounding thriller.

Private Investigator Roland Ford has taken a job for a fellow Marine and a rising politician, Dalton Strait. Strait is contending with unexplained bombings of government buildings in his district…but that is not why he hired Ford. Strait’s wife, Natalie, has gone missing, leaving behind a cryptic plea for help. Strait has made many enemies during his time in politics–including some of his own family members–all of whom could be looking for revenge. But as Ford digs into the details of a troubled marriage, Natalie’s disappearance becomes more and more complicated.

Meanwhile, the bombings in the city intensify, with a mysterious group known only as the Chaos Committee claiming responsibility. Ford soon learns that the seemingly random attacks may be connected to the case he’s on–and suddenly, his hunt for a missing woman might decide the fate of an entire city.

I’m from a small town, a town of 7,000. One of my classmates was murdered when I was in high school. Over forty years later, the town has not forgotten, nor have they forgotten the killer, a graduate of that same school. Author Poppy Gee is right. She wrote an article called “Small Town Mysteries From the US, Canada and Australia” for CrimeReads.com. She says “the murkiest of secrets often became casual common knowledge” in small towns. You can find her article here. https://bit.ly/3fVqEVW

Gee discusses ten mysteries set in small towns. You’ll probably recognize the titles of Jane Harper’s The Dry and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owen. But, her article might lead you to some books you haven’t yet read. Check the Web Store for the titles. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

And, check the Web Store for Poppy Gee’s own new book, Vanishing Falls.

One of CrimeReads Most Anticipated Books of the Year!

“This literary thriller paints as vivid a landscape as any book coming out this summer…Gee creates a lush, tantalizing world that readers will want to travel into deeper and deeper.”—CrimeReads

Celia Lily is rich, beautiful, and admired. She’s also missing. And the search for the glamorous socialite is about to expose all the dark, dirty secrets of Vanishing Falls…

Deep within the lush Tasmanian rainforest is the remote town of Vanishing Falls, a place with a storied past. The town’s showpiece, built in the 1800s, is its Calendar House—currently occupied by Jack Lily, a prominent art collector and landowner; his wife, Celia; and their four daughters. The elaborate, eccentrically designed mansion houses one masterpiece and 52 rooms—and Celia Lily isn’t in any of them. She has vanished without a trace.…

Joelle Smithton knows that a few folks in Vanishing Falls believe that she’s simple-minded. It’s true that Joelle’s brain works a little differently—a legacy of shocking childhood trauma. But Joelle sees far more than most people realize, and remembers details that others cast away. For instance, she knows that Celia’s husband, Jack, has connections to unsavory local characters whom he’s desperate to keep hidden. He’s not the only one in town with something to conceal. Even Joelle’s own husband, Brian, a butcher, is acting suspiciously. While the police flounder, unable to find Celia, Joelle is gradually parsing the truth from the gossip she hears and from the simple gestures and statements that can unwittingly reveal so much.  

Just as the water from the falls disappears into the ground, gushing away through subterranean creeks, the secrets in Vanishing Falls are pulsing through the town, about to converge. And when they do, Joelle must summon the courage to reveal what really happened to Celia, even if it means exposing her own past…

*****

Poppy Gee was born in Launceston, Tasmania, in 1977. She spends every summer with her family at their shack in the Bay of Fires. She has worked as a journalist, editor and book reviewer and currently teaches journalism and creative writing. Poppy lives in Queensland, Australia, with her husband and two children.

If you haven’t read Mark Billingham’s DI Tom Thorne novels, you can start with Cry Baby, Billingham’s twentieth book. It’s a prequel to the rest of the series, so it’s the perfect place to start. It’s also The Poisoned Pen’s International Crime Novel of the Month. You can order a copy of it through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/30KhRBL

Here’s the summary of Cry Baby.

The latest thriller from internationally bestselling author Mark Billingham takes us back to the origins of Tom Thorne.

In the summer of 1996, two boys run from a playground into the adjoining woods, but only one comes out. DS Tom Thorne takes on a case that quickly spirals out of control when two people connected with the missing boy are murdered. As London prepares to host the European Soccer Championships, Thorne fights to keep on top of a baffling investigation while also dealing with the ugly fallout of his broken marriage.

A prequel to Billingham’s acclaimed debut Sleepyhead—which the Times voted “one of the 100 books that had shaped the decade”—this compelling novel highlights the case that shaped the career of one of British crime fiction’s most iconic characters.

*****

Lee Child, the author of the Reacher books, needs no introduction. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, turns this conversation over to Lee Child. He’s been reading Billingham’s books for twenty years, so he’s ready to talk about them.

New York Times bestselling author, Catherine Coulter, was recently the online guest for an author event at The Poisoned Pen. Her 24th FBI thriller, Deadlock, has just been released. You can order copies of her books, including a signed copy of Deadlock, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3kvw2lO

Here’s the summary of Deadlock.

This exhilarating FBI thriller by #1 New York Times bestselling author Catherine Coulter finds Savich and Sherlock confronting two baffling mysteries.

A young wife is forced to confront a decades-old deadly secret when a medium connects her to her dead grandfather.

A vicious psychopath wants ultimate revenge against Savich, but first, she wants to destroy what he loves most—his family.

A series of three red boxes are delivered personally to Savich at the Hoover Building, each one containing puzzle pieces of a town only FBI agent Pippa Cinelli recognizes. Savich sends in Cinelli to investigate undercover but someone knows who she is.

Savich and Sherlock are up to their eyebrows in danger, but can they figure out the red box puzzle and the young wife’s secret before it’s too late?

*****

Here’s Catherine Coulter in conversation with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.

Some authors are just better interviews than others, and Karen Dionne does an excellent job in her conversation with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen. Dionne, the author of The Marsh King’s Daughter, now has released her second novel, The Wicked Sister. Both books, standalones, but sharing a similar setting in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2DBENKx

Here’s the summary of Dionne’s The Wicked Sister.

She thought she’d buried her past. But what if it’s been hunting her this whole time?

From the bestselling and award-winning author of The Marsh King’s Daughter comes a startling novel of psychological suspense as two generations of sisters try to unravel their tangled relationships between nature and nurture, guilt and betrayal, love and evil.

You have been cut off from society for fifteen years, shut away in a mental hospital in self-imposed exile as punishment for the terrible thing you did when you were a child.

But what if nothing about your past is as it seems?

And if you didn’t accidentally shoot and kill your mother, then whoever did is still out there. Waiting for you.

For a decade and a half, Rachel Cunningham has chosen to lock herself away in a psychiatric facility, tortured by gaps in her memory and the certainty that she is responsible for her parents’ deaths. But when she learns new details about their murders, Rachel returns, in a quest for answers, to the place where she once felt safest: her family’s sprawling log cabin in the remote forests of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

As Rachel begins to uncover what really happened on the day her parents were murdered, she learns–as her mother did years earlier–that home can be a place of unspeakable evil, and that the bond she shares with her sister might be the most poisonous of all.

*****

You can watch Karen Dionne’s author event here.