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.
Have you read about Robert Pobi’s City of Windows yet? The Poisoned Pen’s Hot Book of the Week introduces “a brilliant, reluctant investigator”. You can order a copy of City of Windows through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2yHEw2B
Here’s the summary of City of Windows.
“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.
It was a packed house on the evening Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, turned the mike over to Greaney, author of Red Metal. He discussed books with Jack Carr, author of True Believer, and Stephen Hunter, whose latest Bob Lee Swagger book is Game of Snipers. You can order signed copies of all three books through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com
If you missed the event, you can watch it now.
Here is the summary of True Believer.
“This is seriously good. I mean—seriously. Both author Jack Carr and main character James Reece are the real deal, the action is razor sharp, the suspense is unrelenting, and the tradecraft is so authentic the government will probably ban it—so read it while you can!” —Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Past Tense
“A powerful, thoughtful, realistic, at times terrifying thriller that I could not put down. A terrific addition to the genre, Jack Carr and his alter-ego protagonist, James Reece, continue to blow me away.”—Mark Greaney, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Mission Critical
“True Believer, the highly anticipated new thriller from Jack Carr, is one of this year’s hottest thrillers, and a perfect fit for fans of Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, and Daniel Silva.” —The Real Book Spy
In acclaimed author Jack Carr’s follow-up to The Terminal List, former Navy SEAL James Reece’s skill, cunning, and heroism put the US government back in his debt and set him on another path of revenge.
When a string of horrific terrorist attacks plagues the Western world during the holiday season, the broader markets fall into a tailspin. The attacks are being coordinated by a shadowy former Iraqi commando who has disappeared into Europe’s underground. The United States government has an asset who can turn the Iraqi against his masters: James Reece, the most-wanted domestic terrorist alive.
After avenging the deaths of his family and team members, Reece emerges deep in the wilds of Mozambique, protected by the family of his estranged best friend and former SEAL Team member. When a series of events uncovers his whereabouts, the CIA recruits him, using a Presidential pardon for Reece and immunity for the friends who helped him in his mission of vengeance.
Now a reluctant tool of the United States government, Reece travels the globe, targeting terrorist leaders and unraveling a geopolitical conspiracy that exposes a traitorous CIA officer and uncovers a sinister assassination plot with worldwide repercussions.
A high-intensity roller-coaster ride, True Believer explodes with action and authenticity that cements Jack Carr as the new leader in political thrillers.
*****
Here’s Stephen Hunter’s Game of Snipers.
“Bob Lee Swagger is a true American literary icon.”–Mark Greaney, New York Times Bestselling Author of Mission Critical
In this blazing new thriller from Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Hunter, master sniper Bob Lee Swagger takes on his biggest job to date…and confronts an assassin with skills that match his own.
When Bob Lee Swagger is approached by a woman who lost a son to war and has spent the years since risking all that she has to find the sniper who pulled the trigger, he knows right away he’ll do everything in his power to help her. But what begins as a favor becomes an obsession, and soon Swagger is back in the action, teaming up with the Mossad, the FBI, and local American law enforcement as he tracks a sniper who is his own equal…and attempts to decipher that assassin’s ultimate target before it’s too late.
With all-too-real threats and a twisty, masterful storytelling, Game of Snipersis another gripping addition to a bestselling Bob Lee Swagger series.
*****
And, here’s the description of Red Metal by Mark Greaney.
A Russian military strike against Europe could change the balance of power in the West. A stunningly realistic view of modern warfare from a battlefield commander and the New York Times bestselling author of The Gray Man.
The Russian bear has awakened. Their tanks race across Poland crushing all opposition on a headlong dash for the heart of Germany. Satellite killing missiles blind American forces while Spetznatz teams destroy Allied communications relays. It’s all part of a master plan to confuse and defeat America and her allies.
Ranged against the Russian attack are a Marine lieutenant colonel pulled out of a cushy job at the Pentagon and thrown into the fray, a French Special Forces captain and his intelligence operative father, a young Polish female partisan fighter, an A-10 Warthog pilot, and the captain of an American tank platoon who, along with a German sergeant, struggle to keep a small group of American and German tanks in the fight.
Operation Red Metal is a nightmare scenario made real but could it just be the first move on the Russian chessboard?
Here’s another one of the terrific lists of award nominees that has been recently announced. Congratulations to all of the nominees! Check The Poisoned Pen’s Web Store for the books. https://store.poisonedpen.com
The finalists for the 2019 Ngaio Marsh Awards, honoring the best in New Zealand crime writing, are:
Novel: This Mortal Boy by Fiona Kidman Money in the Morgue by Ngaio Marsh & Stella Duffy The Quaker by Liam McIlvanney Call Me Evie by JP Pomare The Vanishing Act by Jen Shieff
First Novel: One for Another by Andrea Jacka Crystal Reign by Kelly Lyndon Call Me Evie by JP Pomare
Nonfiction: The Great New Zealand Robbery by Scott Bainbridge The Short Life and Mysterious Death of Jane Furlong by Kelly Dennett Behind Bars by Anna Leask The Cause of Death by Cynric Temple-Camp
Have you read Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann? Its subtitle is “The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI”. You might want to pick up a copy now before it becomes a movie. You can order a copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2LRnYxT
Here are some possible connections to the film; Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro. Check out the latest information. https://bit.ly/2ZlEFEE
Here’s the description of Killers of the Flower Moon.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
A New York Times Notable Book
Named a best book of the year by Amazon,Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, GQ, Time, Newsday, Entertainment Weekly, Time Magazine, NPR, Vogue, Smithsonian, Cosmopolitan, Seattle Times, Bloomberg, Lit Hub, and SlateFrom the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Lost City of Z, a twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe. Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.
It’s a debut novel that’s the current Hot Book of the Week at the Poisoned Pen, Daniel Nieh’s Beijing Payback. You can order a copy of it through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/31056QA
Here’s the description of Beijing Payback.
“Propulsive. . . . Highly enjoyable. . . . It sets up a sequel, one that I very much look forward to reading.” —The New York Times Book Review
A fresh, smart, and fast-paced revenge thriller about a college basketball player who discovers shocking truths about his family in the wake of his father’s murder
Victor Li is devastated by his father’s murder, and shocked by a confessional letter he finds among his father’s things. In it, his father admits that he was never just a restaurateur—in fact he was part of a vast international crime syndicate that formed during China’s leanest communist years.
Victor travels to Beijing, where he navigates his father’s secret criminal life, confronting decades-old grudges, violent spats, and a shocking new enterprise that the organization wants to undertake. Standing up against it is likely what got his father killed, but Victor remains undeterred. He enlists his growing network of allies and friends to finish what his father started, no matter the costs.
Did you miss reading Lou Berney’s November Road last year? It’s really time to catch up if you did. He just won the 2018 Dashiell Hammett Award for Literary Excellence in Crime Writing. The award is presented by the International Association of Crime Writers, North America (IACW/NA).
Here are the other nominees for the award.
Nominees: William Boyle, The Lonely Witness (Pegasus) Robert Olen Butler, Paris in the Dark (Mysterious Press) Lisa Unger, Under My Skin (Park Row) Sam Wiebe, Cut You Down (Random House Canada)
Berney and the other nominees will be honored at 11 a.m., Friday, November 1, 2019 at Bouchercon in Dallas, Texas.
“When people say they want to read a really good novel, the kind you just can’t put down, this is the kind of book they mean. Exceptional.” ““Stephen King, New York Times bestselling author
Named a Best Book of the Year by Entertainment Weekly“¢ Washington Post“¢ AARP “¢ Newsweek “¢ Dallas Morning News “¢ South Florida Sun-Sentinel “¢ Crime Reads
Set against the assassination of JFK, a poignant and evocative crime novel that centers on a desperate cat-and-mouse chase across 1960s America—a story of unexpected connections, daring possibilities, and the hope of second chances from the Edgar Award-winning author of The Long and Faraway Gone.
Frank Guidry’s luck has finally run out.
A loyal street lieutenant to New Orleans’ mob boss Carlos Marcello, Guidry has learned that everybody is expendable. But now it’s his turn—he knows too much about the crime of the century: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Within hours of JFK’s murder, everyone with ties to Marcello is turning up dead, and Guidry suspects he’s next: he was in Dallas on an errand for the boss less than two weeks before the president was shot. With few good options, Guidry hits the road to Las Vegas, to see an old associate—a dangerous man who hates Marcello enough to help Guidry vanish.
Guidry knows that the first rule of running is “don’t stop,” but when he sees a beautiful housewife on the side of the road with a broken-down car, two little daughters and a dog in the back seat, he sees the perfect disguise to cover his tracks from the hit men on his tail. Posing as an insurance man, Guidry offers to help Charlotte reach her destination, California. If she accompanies him to Vegas, he can help her get a new car.
For her, it’s more than a car— it’s an escape. She’s on the run too, from a stifling existence in small-town Oklahoma and a kindly husband who’s a hopeless drunk.
It’s an American story: two strangers meet to share the open road west, a dream, a hope—and find each other on the way.
Charlotte sees that he’s strong and kind; Guidry discovers that she’s smart and funny. He learns that’s she determined to give herself and her kids a new life; she can’t know that he’s desperate to leave his old one behind.
Another rule—fugitives shouldn’t fall in love, especially with each other. A road isn’t just a road, it’s a trail, and Guidry’s ruthless and relentless hunters are closing in on him. But now Guidry doesn’t want to just survive, he wants to really live, maybe for the first time.
Everyone’s expendable, or they should be, but now Guidry just can’t throw away the woman he’s come to love.
It’s a fun time of year, with all the award nominations. The Australian Crime Writers Association just announced the nominees for the 2019 Ned Kelly Awards. You’ll want to check them out here. https://www.austcrimewriters.com/longlists-2019 Don’t hit that “Buy” button. Support The Poisoned Pen and look for the books in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
Do you need reasons to check the longlist? Well, Sourcebooks/Poisoned Pen Press author Kerry Greenwood is up for the 2019 Best Fiction Award for The Spotted Dog.
Here’s another excuse. Bouchercon, the world’s largest mystery convention, just announced that four Australian authors, including Ned Kelly Award winner Sulari Gentill, who is published by The Poisoned Pen, will be touring and attending Bouchercon. Jock Serong, who is an award nominee this year, will also be on the tour. You can catch those authors in Dallas during Bouchercon. Emma Viskic also won the Ned Kelly Award. In other words, the longlist could provide you with a wealth of interesting books. Here’s the announcement from Bouchercon.
*****
2019 INTERNATIONAL SPOTLIGHT Band on the Run The American “On the Run” tour of four Australian mystery authors kicks off at Bouchercon 2019 in Dallas. Sularia Gentill, Jock Serong, Emma Viskiuc, and Robert Gott all have 2019 novels. Although they don’t write heavy metal, they carry a lot of weight ““ in awards and accolades.
Salaria Gentill’s debut novel in 2010, “A Few Right Thinking Men,” started her on an award-winning path. Since then, she’s published a dozen more novels, eight Rowland Sinclair Mysteries, and the Hero Trilogy. She’s won both a Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction and a Davitt Award for Crime Fiction. Her new novel is “All the Tears in China.”
Jock Serong published his first novel in 2014 and won the Ned Kelly Award for First Crime Fiction. His follow up, “The Rules of Backyard Cricket” was shortlisted for five awards, including an Edgar. “On the Java Ridge,” 2017, won the JCU Colin Roderick Award and HT Priestley Medal. “Preservation” is his current novel.
Emma Viskic took home the 2016 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction and three Davitt Awards for her novel “Resurrection Bay. It’s currently shortlisted for a Barry Award at Bouchercon. Her second novel, 2018’s “And Fire Came Down” won her last year’s Davitt Award. Her new novel is “Darkness for Light.”
Keeping the band members from taking themselves too seriously is Dr. Robert Gott, author of seven historical crime novels set in 1940s Australia. He’s the creator of the cartoon “The Adventures of Naked Man,” which ran weekly for 19 years. Two of his crime novels, “Amongst the Dead” and “The Holiday Murders,” were both shortlisted for Ned Kelly Awards for Best Crime Fiction. His 2019 novel is “The Autumn Murders.” He’s also author of 95 non-fiction children’s books.
The crime writers from four different publishing houses are touring together through a grant from the Australian Arts Council in hopes of setting a precedent for mystery writers to pool resources and work together to make more international visits possible.
Below, Emma Viskiuc, Sulari Gentill, Jock Serong, and Robert Gott.
Thank you to Janet Rudolph for sharing the list of Macavity Award nominees. And, congratulations to all of the nominees. Check The Poisoned Pen’s Web Store for availability of these titles. https://store.poisonedpen.com
The Macavity Award Nominees 2019 (for works published in 2018)
Best Novel November Road by Lou Berney (William Morrow) If I Die Tonight by Alison Gaylin (William Morrow) The Lost Man by Jane Harper (Flat Iron Books) Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier (Minotaur Books) Hiroshima Boy by Naomi Hirahara (Prospect Park Books) Under My Skin by Lisa Unger (Harlequin – Park Row Books)
Best First Novel My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Doubleday) Dodging and Burning by John Copenhaver (Pegasus Books) Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (G.P. Putnam’s Sons) Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman (Ballantine) The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor (Crown)
Best Nonfiction The Metaphysical Mysteries of G.K. Chesterton: A Critical Study of the Father Brown Stories and Other Detective Fiction by Laird R. Blackwell (McFarland) Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World’s Most Famous Detective Writer by Margalit Fox (Random House) Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s by Leslie S. Klinger (Pegasus Books) I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara (HarperCollins) Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson (Pegasus Books) The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the Worldby Sarah Weinman (HarperCollins)
Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington) City of Ink by Elsa Hart (Minotaur) Island of the Madby Laurie R. King (Bantam) The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime) A Dying Note by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen) A Forgotten Place by Charles Todd (William Morrow)
Thanks to The Rap Sheet for posting the nominees for the 2019 Dagger Awards, as announced by the British Crime Writers Association (CWA). The winners will be announced in London, England on October 24. Cong (Don’t forget to check The Poisoned Pen’s Web Store for copies of the nominated titles. https://store.poisonedpen.com)
Congratulations to all of the nominees.
CWA Gold Dagger: “¢All the Hidden Truths, by Claire Askew (Hodder & Stoughton) “¢The Puppet Show, by M.W. Craven: (Constable) “¢What We Did, by Christobel Kent (Sphere) “¢Unto Us a Son Is Given, by Donna Leon (Heinemann) “¢American by Day, by Derek B Miller (Doubleday) “¢A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better, by Benjamin Wood (Scribner)
CWA John Creasey (New Blood): “¢All the Hidden Truths, by Claire Askew (Hodder & Stoughton) “¢The Boy at the Door, by Alex Dahl (Head of Zeus) “¢Scrublands, by Chris Hammer (Wildfire) “¢Turn a Blind Eye, by Vicky Newham (HQ) “¢Blood & Sugar, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle) “¢Overkill, by Vanda Symon (Orenda)
CWA ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-fiction: “¢All That Remains: A Life in Death, by Sue Black (Doubleday) “¢An Unexplained Death: The True Story of a Body at the Belvedere, by Mikita Brottman (Canongate) “¢Murder by the Book: A Sensational Chapter in Victorian Crime, by Claire Harman (Viking) “¢The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century, by Kirk Wallace Johnson (Hutchinson) “¢The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War, by Ben Macintyre (Viking) “¢The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, by Hallie Rubenhold (Doubleday)
CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger: “¢Give Me Your Hand, by Megan Abbott (Picador) “¢Safe Houses, by Dan Fesperman (Head of Zeus) “¢Killing Eve: No Tomorrow, by Luke Jennings (John Murray) “¢Lives Laid Away, by Stephen Mack Jones (Soho Crime) “¢To the Lions, by Holly Watt (Bloomsbury) “¢Memo from Turner, by Tim Willocks (Jonathan Cape)
CWA Sapere Books Historical Dagger: “¢The Quaker, by Liam McIlvanney (Harper Fiction) “¢Destroying Angel, by S.G. MacLean: (Quercus) “¢Smoke and Ashes, by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker) “¢The House on Half Moon Street, by Alex Reeve (Raven) “¢Tombland, by C.J. Sansom: (Mantle) “¢Blood & Sugar, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle)
CWA International Dagger: “¢A Long Night in Paris, by Dov Alfon; translated by Daniella Zamir (Maclehose Press) “¢Weeping Waters, by Karin Brynard; translated by Maya Fowler and Isobel Dixon (World Noir) “¢ The Cold Summer, by Gianrico Carofiglio; translated by Howard Curtis (Bitter Lemon Press) “¢Newcomer, by Keigo Higashino; translated by Giles Murray (Little, Brown) “¢The Root of Evil, by HÃ¥kan Nesser; translated by Sarah Death (Mantle) “¢The Forger, by Cay Rademacher; translated by Peter Millar (Arcadia)
CWA Short Story Dagger: “¢ “Strangers in a Pub,” by Martin Edwards (from Ten Year Stretch, edited by Martin Edwards and Adrian Muller; No Exit Press) “¢ “Death Becomes Her,” by Syd Moore (from The Strange Casebook, by Syd Moore; Point Blank Books) “¢ “The Dummies’ Guide to Serial Killing,” by Danuta Reah (from The Dummies’ Guide to Serial Killing and Other Fantastic Female Fables, by Danuta Reah [aka Danuta Kot]; Fantastic) “¢ “I Detest Mozart,” by Teresa Solana (from The First Prehistoric Serial Killer and Other Stories, by Teresa Solana; Bitter Lemon Press) “¢ “Bag Man,” by Lavie Tidhar (from The Outcast Hours, edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin; Solaris)
Dagger in the Library: “¢ M.C. Beaton “¢ Mark Billingham “¢ John Connolly “¢ Kate Ellis “¢ C.J. Sansom “¢ Cath Staincliffe
Debut Dagger (for the opening of a crime novel by an uncontracted writer): “¢Wake, by Shelley Burr “¢The Mourning Light, by Jerry Krause “¢ Hardways, by Catherine Hendricks “¢The Firefly, by David Smith “¢A Thin Sharp Blade, by Fran Smith
