Fiction Review

There are several reasons to share the link to Liberty Hardy’s recent article for Book Riot. Let’s start with the list itself, “10 of the Best Detectives from Recent Crime Novels”, https://bit.ly/31LjvR0. When Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, gives it a stamp of approval, saying ‘Excellent list”, you’ll want to pay attention. In fact, you just might want to look those books up in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

The other reason deals with the sponsored book for this article. Sourcebooks is the sponsor. They’re also the publisher for Billy Jensen’s Chase Darkness with Me: How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murders.

As mentioned the other day on the blog, https://bit.ly/2KKxuzO, Jensen will be at the Pen on Saturday, August 24, joining Hank Phillippi Ryan for a special ticketed event. Check the web link above for the information, or call The Poisoned Pen at 480-947-2974 for information about buying tickets.

Here’s what the recent article says about Chase Darkness with Me.

Journalist Billy Jensen spent fifteen years investigating unsolved murders, fighting for the families of victims. Every story he wrote had one thing in common—they didn’t have an ending. The killer was still out there. But after the sudden death of a friend, crime writer and author of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara, Billy got fed up. Following a dark night, he came up with a plan. A plan to investigate past the point when the cops had given up. A plan to solve the murders himself. Gripping, complex, unforgettable, Chase Darkness with Me is an examination of the evil forces that walk among us, illustrating a novel way to catch those killers, and a true-crime narrative unlike any you’ve read before.

Congratulations to Rhys Bowen, whose thirteenth Royal Spyness mystery, Love and Death Among the Cheetahs, appears at #15 on the new USA Today Best-Selling Books list. Bowen recently appeared at The Poisoned Pen, and there are signed copies of her latest book available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2LV4U1i

You may have missed the event at The Poisoned Pen, but you can still listen to Rhys Bowen talk with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, on the store’s Podcast. It’s a little over twenty minutes long. Here’s a link to the Podcast page. https://poisonedpen.podbean.com/

Love and Death Among the Cheetahs is summarized here.

Georgie and Darcy are finally on their honeymoon in Kenya’s Happy Valley, but murder crashes the party in this all-new installment in the New York Times bestselling series.

I was so excited when Darcy announced out of the blue that we were flying to Kenya for our extended honeymoon. Now that we are here, I suspect he has actually been sent to fulfill another secret mission. I am trying very hard not to pick a fight about it, because after all, we are in paradise! Darcy finally confides that there have been robberies in London and Paris. It seems the thief was a member of the aristocracy and may have fled to Kenya. Since we are staying in the Happy Valley—the center of upper-class English life—we are well positioned to hunt for clues and ferret out possible suspects.

Now that I am a sophisticated married woman, I am doing my best to sound like one. But crikey! These aristocrats are a thoroughly loathsome sort enjoying a completely decadent lifestyle filled with wild parties and rampant infidelity. And one of the leading lights in the community, Lord Cheriton, has the nerve to make a play for me. While I am on my honeymoon! Of course, I put an end to that right off. 

When he is found bloodied and lifeless along a lonely stretch of road, it appears he fell victim to a lion. But it seems that the Happy Valley community wants to close the case a bit too quickly. Darcy and I soon discover that there is much more than a simple robbery and an animal attack to contend with here in Kenya. Nearly everyone has a motive to want Lord Cheriton dead and some will go to great lengths to silence anyone who asks too many questions. The hunt is on! I just hope I can survive my honeymoon long enough to catch a killer. . . .

It’s never too early to highlight a ticketed event at The Poisoned Pen because seats are limited. Billy Jensen, author of Chase Darkness with Me, and Hank Phillippi Ryan, author of The Murder List, will appear at the Pen on Saturday, August 24 at 2 PM.

$28 Ticket includes one copy of Chase Darkness With Me or The Murder List (purchaser’s choice).

Seating is general admission. No reserved seating. Ticket holders will be admitted into the venue starting at 1pm. Program begins at 2pm and will last for approximately one hour, followed by the book signing at 3pm.

Can’t make it? Order your signed copies through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s the link with program and ticket information. https://bit.ly/2N2wvh3

*****

Here’s information about Jensen’s Chase Darkness with Me.

***With an exclusive behind-the-scenes conversation between Billy Jensen and retired detective Paul Holes on the Golden State Killer, their favorite cold cases, and more***

Have you ever wanted to solve a murder? Gather the clues the police overlooked? Put together the pieces? Identify the suspect?

Journalist Billy Jensen spent fifteen years investigating unsolved murders, fighting for the families of victims. Every story he wrote had one thing in common—they didn’t have an ending. The killer was still out there.

But after the sudden death of a friend, crime writer and author of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara, Billy became fed up. Following a dark night, he came up with a plan. A plan to investigate past the point when the cops had given up. A plan to solve the murders himself.

You’ll ride shotgun as Billy identifies the Halloween Mask Murderer, finds a missing girl in the California Redwoods, and investigates the only other murder in New York City on 9/11. You’ll hear intimate details of the hunts for two of the most terrifying serial killers in history: his friend Michelle McNamara’s pursuit of the Golden State Killer and his own quest to find the murderer of the Allenstown Four. And Billy gives you the tools—and the rules—to help solve murders yourself.

Gripping, complex, unforgettable, Chase Darkness with Me is an examination of the evil forces that walk among us, illustrating a novel way to catch those killers, and a true-crime narrative unlike any you’ve read before.

*****

Here’s the summary of Hank Phillippi Ryan’s The Murder List.

“An exhilarating thrill ride that keeps you turning pages.. Ryan deftly delivers a denouement as shocking as it is satisfying.”–Liv Constantine, bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish and The Last Time I Saw You

Law student Rachel North will tell you, without hesitation, what she knows to be true. She’s smart, she’s a hard worker, she does the right thing, she’s successfully married to a faithful and devoted husband, a lion of Boston’s defense bar, and her internship with the Boston DA’s office is her ticket to a successful future. 

Problem is–she’s wrong. 

And in this cat and mouse game–the battle for justice becomes a battle for survival. 

The Murder List is a new standalone suspense novel in the tradition of Lisa Scottoline and B. A. Paris from award-winning author and reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan.

Winners were announced for the 2019 Dead Good Reader Awards during the recent Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate. This year’s winning titles are:

Best Amateur Detective: The Suspect by Fiona Barton
Most Gripping Courtroom Drama: Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh
Best Revenge Thriller: My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing
Book You Can’t Put Down: Skin Deep by Liz Nugent
Most Elusive Villain: Last of the Magpies by Mark Edwards
Most Recommended Book: The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths

Congratulations to all of the winners. Don’t forget to check the Web Store for the books. https://store.poisonedpen.com

In this case, you’ll also want to check The Poisoned Pen’s calendar. Steve Cavanagh, author of Thirteen, will be at the Pen on Thursday, August 22 at 7 PM. Signed copies of Thirteen are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/30QyXew

Here’s the summary of Thirteen.

Thirteen is the legal thriller Lee Child, Michael Connelly, and Ruth Ware are raving about and readers can’t put down.

“Outstanding – an intriguing premise, a tense, gripping build-up, and a spectacular climax. This guy is the real deal. Trust me.” —Lee Child

“A dead bang BEAST of a book that expertly combines Cavanagh’s authority on the law with an absolutely great thrill ride. Books this ingenious don’t come along very often.” —Michael Connelly

It’s the murder trial of the century. And Joshua Kane has killed to get the best seat in the house ““ and to be sure the wrong man goes down for the crime. Because this time, the killer isn’t on trial. He’s on the jury.

But there’s someone on his tail. Former-conman-turned-criminal-defense-attorney Eddie Flynn doesn’t believe that his movie-star client killed two people. He suspects that the real killer is closer than they think ““ but who would guess just how close? 

“A brilliant, twisty, ingeniously constructed puzzle of a book. Steve Cavanagh pulls off an enviable premise with panache.” —Ruth Ware

The Poisoned Pen picks a novel set in Arizona as the current Hot Book of the Week. Inland is by Tea Obreht, bestselling author of The Tiger’s Wife. There are signed copies of Inland available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/31yqYTx

Here’s the review of Inland from The New York Times. https://nyti.ms/2MdBTyj

Then, read Ron Charles’ review of Inland in The Washington Post. I think you’ll find it intriguing. https://wapo.st/2KBe2W0 Now, are you ready to order a signed copy of the book?

Here’s the summary of Inland.

The New York Times bestselling author of The Tiger’s Wife returns with “a bracingly epic and imaginatively mythic journey across the American West” (Entertainment Weekly).

In the lawless, drought-ridden lands of the Arizona Territory in 1893, two extraordinary lives unfold. Nora is an unflinching frontierswoman awaiting the return of the men in her life—her husband, who has gone in search of water for the parched household, and her elder sons, who have vanished after an explosive argument. Nora is biding her time with her youngest son, who is convinced that a mysterious beast is stalking the land around their home.

Meanwhile, Lurie is a former outlaw and a man haunted by ghosts. He sees lost souls who want something from him, and he finds reprieve from their longing in an unexpected relationship that inspires a momentous expedition across the West. The way in which Lurie’s death-defying trek at last intersects with Nora’s plight is the surprise and suspense of this brilliant novel.

Mythical, lyrical, and sweeping in scope, Inland is grounded in true but little-known history. It showcases all of Téa Obreht’s talents as a writer, as she subverts and reimagines the myths of the American West, making them entirely—and unforgettably—her own.

Advance praise for Inland

“This is no boilerplate Louis L’Amour yarn—there are ghosts, camels and other fantastical elements.”—Newsday (Best Summer Books 2019)

“The long-anticipated second novel from Téa Obreht transports readers to the Wild West through the juxtaposed stories of a frontierswoman whose husband and sons have gone missing, and of an outlaw on the run.”—Bustle

“Magnificent . . . brings to mind similar effects in, say, Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude or Toni Morrison’s Beloved.”—The Times Literary Supplement

“Obreht masterfully intertwines [Nora’s and Lurie’s] seemingly unconnected stories with the rich prose, nods to history, and elements of magical realism she’s known for.”—Real Simple

“It will enchant lovers of lyrical prose and the mythical American West.”—Harper’s Bazaar

*****

Robert Pobi’s City of Windows was this past week’s Hot Book of the Week. You can still order a copy through the Web Store, of course. https://bit.ly/2KHAKMi

However, there are several ways to summarize the book. Adam Wagner is a regular contributor to CriminalElement, where he posts GIFNotes, a summary of upcoming and current books, using a visual guide. You can find his summary of City of Windows on that site. https://bit.ly/2OPrhrJ

Or, you can read the straightforward summary of City of Windows here.

“City of Windows is moving, breathtaking—a great entertainment.” —The Wall Street Journal 

“A tough, wise, knowing narrative voice, a great plot, a great setting, and even better characters — I loved this.” —Lee Child, New York Timesbestselling author

In the tradition of Jeffery Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme and David Baldacci’s Amos Decker, Robert Pobi’s City of Windows introduces Lucas Page, a brilliant, reluctant investigator, matching wits with a skilled, invisible killer

During the worst blizzard in memory, an FBI agent in a moving SUV in New York City is killed by a nearly impossible sniper shot. Unable to pinpoint where the shot came from, as the storm rapidly wipes out evidence, the agent-in-charge Brett Kehoe turns to the one man who might be able to help them—former FBI agent Lucas Page.

Page, a university professor and bestselling author, left the FBI years ago after a tragic event robbed him of a leg, an arm, an eye, and the willingness to continue. But he has an amazing ability to read a crime scene, figure out angles and trajectories in his head, and he might be the only one to be able to find the sniper’s nest. With a new wife and family, Lucas Page has no interest in helping the FBI—except for the fact that the victim was his former partner.

Agreeing to help for his partner’s sake, Page finds himself hunting a killer with an unknown agenda and amazing sniper skills in the worst of conditions. And his partner’s murder is only the first in a series of meticulously planned murders carried out with all-but-impossible sniper shots. The only thing connecting the deaths is that the victims are all with law enforcement—that is until Page’s own family becomes a target.

To identify and hunt down this ruthless, seemingly unstoppable killer, Page must discover what hidden past connects the victims before he himself loses all that is dear to him.

C.J. Box and T. Jefferson Parker will be appearing together at The Poisoned Pen on Tuesday, August 13 at 7 PM. Box brings back Cassie Dewell in The Bitterroots, his latest novel, while Parker’s book is The Last Good Guy. You can order signed copies of their books through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Here’s the summary of The Bitterroots.

A riveting new novel from New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author C. J. Box.

The ties that bind can burn you.

Former sheriff’s investigator Cassie Dewell is trying to start her life over as in private practice. She’s her own boss and answers to no one, and that’s just the way she likes it after the past few tumultuous years. All that certainty changes when an old friend calls in a favor: she wants Cassie to help exonerate a man accused of assaulting a young woman from an influential family. 

Against her own better judgment, Cassie agrees. But out by the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana, twisted family loyalty runs as deep as the ties to the land, and there’s always something more to the story. The Kleinsassers have ruled this part of Montana for decades, and the Iron Cross Ranch is their stronghold. They want to see Blake Kleinsasser, the black sheep of the family, put away forever for the assault. As Cassie attempts to uncover the truth, she must fight against a family whose roots are tangled and deadly—as well as the ghosts of her own past that threaten to bring her down. 

With The Bitterroots, master storyteller C. J. Box delivers another searing novel of loyalty, lies, and lethal retribution.

*****

You can also read The Real Book Spy”s review of The Bitterroots here. https://bit.ly/2yRrXC2

*****

Here’s T. Jefferson Parker’s The Last Good Guy.

In this electrifying new thriller from three-time Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestseller T. Jefferson Parker, Private Investigator Roland Ford hunts for a missing teenager and uncovers a dark conspiracy in his most personal case yet.

When hired by a beautiful and enigmatic woman to find her missing younger sister, private investigator Roland Ford immediately senses that the case is not what it seems. He is soon swept up in a web of lies and secrets as he searches for the teenager, and even his new client cannot be trusted. His investigation leads him to a secretive charter school, skinhead thugs, a cadre of American Nazis hidden in a desert compound, an arch-conservative celebrity evangelist–and, finally, to the girl herself. The Last Good Guy is Ford’s most challenging case to date, one that will leave him questioning everything he thought he knew about decency, honesty, and the battle between good and evil…if it doesn’t kill him first.

Priscilla Royal’s latest medieval mystery, her fifteenth, is just out from Sourcebooks/Poisoned Pen Press. The publication of The Twice-Hanged Man means it’s the perfect time for her to discuss why she writes medieval mysteries. You can find her recent essay in CrimeReads. https://bit.ly/2ZKffka

You can order The Twice-Hanged Man through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2OMkn6n

Here’s the summary.

Autumn, 1282

As Edward I wages a bloody conflict with Wales, Prioress Eleanor escorts her younger brother, Robert, and his wife, who is in labor, from their Marcher lands to greater safety at a Wynethorpe manor in a village just inside the English border. They are joined by Brother Thomas, the Prioress’s trusted friend, and Sister Anne, who helps navigate the difficult birth and delivers a baby girl.

Mother and child may be healthy, but Death never wanders far from this beloved Prioress—whether she’s home at Tyndal in Norfolk or traveling the realm. The local abbot begs her help—the village priest has been found dead and standing over him is, a reliable witness says, the ghost of Hywel, the village stonemason who was recently hanged for slaying some sleeping English soldiers.

Bone tired, Brother Thomas questions the village hangman, who assures him that Hywel was hanged once and then, when the weight of the fat felon strung up alongside him broke the beam of the gallows, was hanged again. The experienced executioner checked all the bodily signs—Hywel was dead. But where is his grave? And what secrets are the mysterious locals keeping from the outsiders visiting their troubled home?

There are tributes to Toni Morrison all over the Internet, however The New York Times has a wealth of them all by itself. Start with her obituary. https://nyti.ms/2T8TVCF

Then, because you’re a reader, you might want to check out Tina Jordan’s article, “The Essential Toni Morrison Reader”, https://nyti.ms/2YJZVCV.

After you’ve mourned the loss of another great author, you can check the Web Store, with a warning. Many of her books might be hard to find. But, some are in stock; some will be available in about a week, and others may take longer. But, don’t hesitate to check. https://bit.ly/2ZGpJkL

May she rest in peace.

What is the connection between Singapore and fingerprints? You’ll have to read A.M. Stuart’s article, “Get a Clue: A Brief History of Fingerprints in the 19th Century” to discover that link. It’s available at CriminalElement, https://www.criminalelement.com/19th-century-fingerprints/

But, Stuart’s first Harriet Gordon mystery, Singapore Sapphire, can be ordered through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2YOa0i4

Here’s the description of Singapore Sapphire.

Early twentieth-century Singapore is a place where a person can disappear, and Harriet Gordon hopes to make a new life for herself there, leaving her tragic memories behind her–but murder gets in the way.

Singapore, 1910–Desperate for a fresh start, Harriet Gordon finds herself living with her brother, a reverend and headmaster of a school for boys, in Singapore at the height of colonial rule. Hoping to gain some financial independence, she advertises her services as a personal secretary. It is unfortunate that she should discover her first client, Sir Oswald Newbold–explorer, mine magnate and president of the exclusive Explorers and Geographers Club–dead with a knife in his throat.

When Inspector Robert Curran is put on the case, he realizes that he has an unusual witness in Harriet. Harriet’s keen eye for detail and strong sense of duty interests him, as does her distrust of the police and her traumatic past, which she is at pains to keep secret from the gossips of Singapore society.

When another body is dragged from the canal, Harriet feels compelled to help with the case. She and Curran are soon drawn into a murderous web of treachery and deceit and find themselves face-to-face with a ruthless cabal that has no qualms about killing again to protect its secrets.