Fiction Review

The current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen introduces a new series. Gytha Lodge’s She Lies in Wait is a suspense novel. In fact, I’m keeping you in suspense by not telling you what it’s about yet. Instead, I’ll mention you can order a copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2MIEhKN

Here’s the summary of She Lies in Wait.

Six friends. One killer. Who do you trust? A teen girl is missing after a night of partying; thirty years later, the discovery of her body reopens a cold case in an absorbing novel featuring a small-town cop determined to finally get to the truth—for fans of Tana French and Kate Atkinson.

“What a marvel! A corkscrew-twisty, knife-sharp thriller—yet it doubles as a tender ode to loss and longing. Prepare to be haunted.”—A. J. Finn, author of the New York Times bestseller The Woman in the Window

On a scorching July night in 1983, a group of teenagers goes camping in the forest. Bright and brilliant, they are destined for great things, and the youngest of the group—Aurora Jackson—is delighted to be allowed to tag along. The evening starts like any other—they drink, they dance, they fight, they kiss. Some of them slip off into the woods in pairs, others are left jealous and heartbroken. But by morning, Aurora has disappeared. Her friends claim that she was safe the last time they saw her, right before she went to sleep. An exhaustive investigation is launched, but no trace of the teenager is ever found.

Thirty years later, Aurora’s body is unearthed in a hideaway that only the six friends knew about, and Jonah Sheens is put in charge of solving the long-cold case. Back in 1983, as a young cop in their small town, he had known the teenagers—including Aurora—personally, even before taking part in the search. Now he’s determined to finally get to the truth of what happened that night. Sheens’s investigation brings the members of the camping party back to the forest, where they will be confronted once again with the events that left one of them dead, and all of them profoundly changed forever.

This searing, psychologically captivating novel marks the arrival of a dazzling new talent, and the start of a new series featuring Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Sheens.

Praise for She Lies in Wait

“This enjoyably chilling suspense tale . . . conveys both the thrills and the dangers of being a teenager on the brink of adult independence. . . . The fascination of this story is in the character studies of the surviving children, all grown up now and participants in a dark mystery that they all wish had never seen the light of day.”—The New York Times Book Review

“The mystery intrigues and twists, offering enough red herrings and moments of police procedural to please fans of the genre.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Neatly plotted and nicely atmospheric . . . This British import is plausible and eminently satisfying. Encore, please.”—Booklis

Last week, I mentioned it’s time for the mystery award announcements. This week, Malice Domestic has announced the nominees for the 2019 Agatha Awards. The awards will be presented May 4 during Malice Domestic 31. Congratulations to all of the nominees.

Don’t forget to look for the nominated books in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Best Contemporary Novel

Mardi Gras Murder by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
Beyond the Truth by Bruce Robert Coffin (Witness Impulse)
Cry Wolf by Annette Dashofy (Henery Press)
Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
Trust Me by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Best Historical Novel  

Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)
The Gold Pawn by LA Chandlar (Kensington)
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
Turning the Tide by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink)
Murder on Union Square by Victoria Thompson (Berkley)

Best First Novel

A Ladies Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
Little Comfort by Edwin Hill (Kensington)
What Doesn’t Kill You by Aimee Hix (Midnight Ink)
Deadly Solution by Keenan Powell (Level Best Books)
Curses Boiled Again by Shari Randall (St. Martin’s)

Best Short Story

“All God’s Sparrows” by Leslie Budewitz (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
“A Postcard for the Dead” by Susanna Calkins in Florida Happens (Three Rooms Press)
“Bug Appetit” by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
“The Case of the Vanishing Professor” by Tara Laskowski (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
“English 398: Fiction Workshop” by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)

Best Young Adult Mystery

Potion Problems (Just Add Magic) by Cindy Callaghan (Aladdin)
Winterhouse by Ben Guterson (Henry Holt)
A Side of Sabotageby C.M. Surrisi (Carolrhoda Books)

Best Nonfiction

Mastering Plot Twists by Jane Cleland (Writer’s Digest Books)
Writing the Cozy Mystery by Nancy J Cohen (Orange Grove Press)
Conan Doyle for the Defense by Margalit Fox (Random House)
Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson (Pegasus Books)
Wicked Women of Ohio by Jane Ann Turzillo (History Press)

https://store.poisonedpen.com

It will be a “thrilling” night Wednesday, January 30 when Joseph Finder and Gregg Hurwitz appear at The Poisoned Pen. Finder’s on book tour for Judgment, and Hurwitz is touring for Out of the Dark, the latest Orphan X novel. The authors will discuss and sign their books at 7 PM on Wednesday. Of course, you can always order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Here’s a sneak peek at both books. First, Finder’s Judgment.

New York Times bestselling author Joseph Finder returns with an explosive new thrillerabout a female judge and the one personal misstep that could lead to her–and her family’s–downfall.

It was nothing more than a one-night stand. Juliana Brody, a judge in the Superior Court of Massachusetts, is rumored to be in consideration for the federal circuit, maybe someday the highest court in the land. At a conference in a Chicago hotel, she meets a gentle, vulnerable man and has an unforgettable night with him—something she’d never done before. They part with an explicit understanding that this must never happen again.

But back home in Boston, Juliana realizes that this was no random encounter. The man from Chicago proves to have an integral role in a case she’s presiding over–a sex-discrimination case that’s received national attention. Juliana discovers that she’s been entrapped, her night of infidelity captured on video. Strings are being pulled in high places, a terrifying unfolding conspiracy that will turn her life upside down.  But soon it becomes clear that personal humiliation, even the possible destruction of her career, are the least of her concerns, as her own life and the lives of her family are put in mortal jeopardy. 

In the end, turning the tables on her adversaries will require her to be as ruthless as they are.

*****

Now, for an actual “sneak peek”, you can check out The Real Spy Guy and his “Five Questions with Joseph Finder”, https://bit.ly/2RXMIIj

He also did “Five Questions with Gregg Hurwitz”, https://bit.ly/2UqAg0y

Here’s the summary of Out of the Dark.

“A shocking stunner in every way. The perfect thriller.” —Robert Crais

When darkness closes in—he’s your last, best hope. Evan Smoak returns in Gregg Hurwitz’s #1 international bestselling Orphan X series. 

Taken from a group home at age twelve, Evan Smoak was raised and trained as part of the Orphan Program, an off-the-books operation designed to create deniable intelligence assets—i.e. assassins. Evan was Orphan X. He broke with the Program, using everything he learned to disappear and reinvent himself as the Nowhere Man, a man who helps the truly desperate when no one else can. But now Evan’s past is catching up to him.

Someone at the very highest level of government has been trying to eliminate every trace of the Orphan Program by killing all the remaining Orphans and their trainers. After Evan’s mentor and the only father he ever knew was killed, he decided to strike back. His target is the man who started the Program and who is now the most heavily guarded person in the world: the President of the United States.

But President Bennett knows that Orphan X is after him and, using weapons of his own, he’s decided to counter-attack. Bennett activates the one man who has the skills and experience to track down and take out Orphan X—the first recruit of the Program, Orphan A.  

With Evan devoting all his skills, resources, and intelligence to find a way through the layers of security that surround the President, suddenly he also has to protect himself against the deadliest of opponents. It’s Orphan vs. Orphan with the future of the country—even the world—on the line.

John Lescroart is on book tour right now for his latest Dismas Hardy legal thriller, The Rule of Law. You can order a signed copy of it, or a copy of any of his books that are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2DCwhZ7

Here’s the summary of The Rule of Law.

In “master of the legal thriller” (Chicago Sun-Times) John Lescroart’s electrifying new novel, attorney Dismas Hardy is called to defend the least likely suspect of his career: his longtime, trusted assistant who is suddenly being charged as an accessory to murder.

Dismas Hardy knows something is amiss with his trusted secretary, Phyllis. Her out-of-character behavior and sudden disappearances concern Hardy, especially when he learns that her convict brother—a man who had served twenty-five years in prison for armed robbery and attempted murder—has just been released.

Things take a shocking turn when Phyllis is suddenly arrested at work for allegedly being an accessory to the murder of Hector Valdez, a coyote who’d been smuggling women into this country from El Salvador and Mexico. That is, until recently, when he was shot to death—on the very same day that Phyllis first disappeared from work. The connection between Phyllis, her brother, and Hector’s murder is not something Dismas can easily understand, but if his cherished colleague has any chance of going free, he needs to put all the pieces together—and fast.

Proving that he is truly “one of the best thriller writers to come down the pike” (USA TODAY), John Lescroart crafts yet another whip-smart, engrossing novel filled with shocking twists and turns that will keep you on your toes until the very last page.

*****

You have the opportunity to watch the event via YouTube if you missed it, or if you want to see it again. But, I also wanted to mention a podcast that is totally different. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, has been doing occasional podcasts with authors. John Lescroart is one she talked with for a podcast. Here’s the link to the podcasts on the bookstore’s page. Check it out because you might find a favorite author there. https://poisonedpen.com/podcast/

Now, you can watch the actual John Lescroart event, if you want.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, recently hosted thriller authors Tami Hoag and Taylor Adams. Hoag is the author of The Boy, while Adams’ latest book is No Exit. You can find signed copies of their books in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Here’s the summary of Tami Hong’s The Boy.

Now a New York Times bestseller

An unfathomable loss or an unthinkable crime? #1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag keeps you guessing in her most harrowing thriller yet.

A panic-stricken woman runs in the dead of night, battered and bloodied, desperate to find help . . .

When Detective Nick Fourcade enters the home of Genevieve Gauthier outside the sleepy town of Bayou Breaux, Louisiana, the bloody crime scene that awaits him is both the most brutal and the most confusing he’s ever seen. Genevieve’s seven-year-old son, KJ, has been murdered by an alleged intruder, yet Genevieve is alive and well, a witness inexplicably left behind to tell the tale. There is no evidence of forced entry, not a clue that points to a motive. Meanwhile, Nick’s wife, Detective Annie Broussard, sits in the emergency room with the grieving Genevieve. A mother herself, Annie understands the emotional devastation this woman is going through, but as a detective she’s troubled by a story that makes little sense. Who would murder a child and leave the only witness behind?

When the very next day KJ’s sometimes babysitter, twelve-year-old Nora Florette, is reported missing, the town is up in arms, fearing a maniac is preying on their children. With pressure mounting from a tough, no-nonsense new sheriff, the media, and the parents of Bayou Breaux, Nick and Annie dig deep into the dual mysteries. But sifting through Genevieve Gauthier’s tangled web of lovers and sorting through a cast of local lowlifes brings more questions than answers. Is someone from Genevieve’s past or present responsible for the death of her son? Is the missing teenager, Nora, a victim, or something worse? Then everything changes when Genevieve’s past as a convicted criminal comes to light. 

The spotlight falls heavily on the grieving mother who is both victim and accused. Could she have killed her own child to free herself from the burden of motherhood, or is the loss of her beloved boy pushing her to the edge of insanity? Could she have something to do with the disappearance of Nora Florette, or is the troubled teenager the key to the murder? How far will Nick and Annie have to go to uncover the dark truth of the boy?

*****

Here’s Taylor Adams’ No Exit.

“What a box of tricks! This full-throttle thriller, dark and driving, rivals Agatha Christie for sheer ingenuity and James Patterson for flat-out speed. Swift, sharp, and relentless.”  — A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

A brilliant, edgy thriller about four strangers, a blizzard, a kidnapped child, and a determined young woman desperate to unmask and outwit a vicious psychopath.

A kidnapped little girl locked in a stranger’s van. No help for miles. What would you do?

On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers. 

Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm . . . and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate. 

Who is the child? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?

There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, and no way out. One of her fellow travelers is a kidnapper. But which one? 

Trapped in an increasingly dangerous situation, with a child’s life and her own on the line, Darby must find a way to break the girl out of the van and escape. 

But who can she trust? 

With exquisitely controlled pacing, Taylor Adams diabolically ratchets up the tension with every page. Full of terrifying twists and hairpin turns, No Exit will have you on the edge of your seat and leave you breathless.

*****

Best of all, you can watch the entire conversation from The Poisoned Pen.

Laura Childs. Lorna Barrett. Susan Wittig Albert. Miranda James. If you recognize those names, you’re probably a fan of cozy mysteries. If you come to the Poisoned Pen when Kate Carlisle, Jenn McKinlay, or Paige Shelton appear there, you probably enjoy cozy mysteries. You can find books by all of these authors in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Hillary Kelly didn’t really know too much about cozy mysteries and the popularity about cats in mysteries until she was in a hospital gift shop. She talks about cozy mysteries, authors and background, in an article called “Crime-Solving Cats and Cozy Mysteries Are a Publishing Juggernaut”. If you’re a fan of cozies, or want to learn more about them, you might want to check it out in Vulture.com. https://bit.ly/2DBwNGV

Sheila Campbell is a founding partner of Wild Blue Yonder. She spends a couple months a year in France, and leads group tours for Politics & Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C. She’ll be at The Poisoned Pen on Tuesday, Jan. 29 at 7 PM to talk about tours.

Jan Carbett, a long-time customer at The Poisoned Pen took one of the tours, and offered to write a short post about the trip. (She caught my attention, and I”m looking at one of the tours in 2019.)

Thank you, Jan!

*****

Early in 2017 The Poisoned Pen newsletter had a short paragraph about trips to Paris, France with two different authors. One, Mark Pryor, was a mystery author. 

I had always wanted to go to Paris and I loved mysteries. I’ve been a PP customer for 20+years. So I read his books, loved them and sent an email to Sheila Campbell and started thinking about going. I trusted going on this trip because of my long association with the Poisoned Pen. Sheila was very patient with all my questions and concerns  and answered every one. It would be my first trip out of country all by myself with only myself to rely on to reach my destination, get to my hotel and meet the rest of the group.

It was FABULOUS! Several days we had a choice of two sets of activities led by either Sheila or Donna and each evening we all met for a delicious wine & cheese gathering to hear about the other half of the day’s trip and tell about our own.

Our author, Mark Pryor, took all of us out on walks where he had set a couple of his books and to where some of the murders had taken place. He also showed us the street and building he had set as his main character’s home and the real cafe he chose as his character’s favorite hangout.

His family was there with him and we saw them several times also. They gave us some insight into what it is like having a successful writer in the family.

I am so glad I went. This coming Tuesday, January 29 at 7 pm both Donna and Sheila will be at The Poisoned Pen to talk about their business and I am looking forward to joining them. I hope readers of this blog will also come and let us know you read it in this blog.

It’s award season, or at least the time when awards are announced. Once you’ve checked out this list of nominees, check the Web Store for the books. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Deadly Pleasures Magazine recently announced the nominees for the 2019 Barry Awards. Winners will be announced on October 31 at the Dallas Bouchercon Opening Ceremonies. Congratulations to all the nominees.

Best Novel
Lou Berney, NOVEMBER ROAD (Morrow)  
Michael Connelly, DARK SACRED NIGHT (Little, Brown)
Allen Eskens, THE SHADOWS WE HIDE (Mulholland)
Craig Johnson, DEPTH OF WINTER (Viking)
Mindy Mejia, LEAVE NO TRACE (Atria)
Abir Mukherjee, A NECESSARY EVIL (Pegasus)

Best First Novel
Oyinkan Braithwaite, MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER (Doubleday)
Karen Cleveland, NEED TO KNOW (Ballantine) 
John Copenhaver, DODGING AND BURNING (Pegasus) 
Caz Frear, SWEET LITTLE LIES (Harper)
James A. McLaughlin, BEARSKIN (Ecco)
C. J. Tudor, THE CHALK MAN (Crown)

Best Paperback Original 
Christine Carbo, A SHARP SOLITUDE (Atria) 
David Mark, DEAD PRETTY (Blue Rider Press) 
Dervla McTiernan, THE RUIN (Penguin) 
Sherry Thomas, THE HOLLOW OF FEAR (Berkley) 
Emma Viskic, RESURRECTION BAY (Pushkin Vertigo)

Best Thriller
Jack Carr, THE TERMINAL LIST (Atria)
Dan Fesperman, SAFE HOUSES (Knopf)
Mick Herron, LONDON RULES (Soho)
Anthony Horowitz, FOREVER AND A DAY (Harper)
Nick Petrie, LIGHT IT UP (Putnam)
James Swain, THE KING TIDES (Thomas & Mercer)

Yesterday, Mystery Writers of America announced the 2019 Edgar Award nominations. Once you read the list of nominees, you might want to check the Web Store for copies of the books. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Congratulations to all of the Edgar Award nominees. Here’s the press release.

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NEW YORK, Jan. 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce, as we celebrate the 210^thanniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, the Nominees for the 2019 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2018. The Edgar® Awards will be presented to the winners at our 73^rd Gala Banquet, April 25, 2019 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City.

BEST NOVEL

The Liar’s Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard (Blackstone Publishing)
House Witness by Mike Lawson (Grove Atlantic ““ Atlantic Monthly Press)
A Gambler’s Jury by Victor Methos (Amazon Publishing ““ Thomas & Mercer)
Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley (Hachette Book Group – Mulholland)
Only to Sleep by Lawrence Osborne (Penguin Random House ““ Hogarth)
A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn (Penguin Random House ““ Berkley)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

A Knife in the Fog by Bradley Harper (Seventh Street Books)
The Captives by Debra Jo Immergut (HarperCollins Publishers – Ecco)
The Last Equation of Isaac Severy by Nova Jacobs (Simon & Schuster – Touchstone)
Bearskin by James A. McLaughlin (HarperCollins Publishers – Ecco)
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (Penguin Random House ““ G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

If I Die Tonight by Alison Gaylin (HarperCollins Publishers ““ William Morrow)
Hiroshima Boy by Naomi Hirahara (Prospect Park Books)
Under a Dark Sky by Lori Rader-Day (HarperCollins Publishers ““ William Morrow)
The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani (Penguin Random House ““ Penguin Books)
Under My Skin by Lisa Unger (Harlequin ““ Park Row Books)

BEST FACT CRIME

Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation by Robert W. Fieseler (W.W. Norton & Company – Liveright)
Sex Money Murder: A Story of Crack, Blood, and Betrayal by Jonathan Green (W.W. Norton & Company)
The Last Wild Men of Borneo: A True Story of Death and Treasure by Carl Hoffman (HarperCollins Publishers ““ William Morrow)
The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson (Penguin Random House – Viking)
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara(HarperCollins Publishers – Harper)
The Good Mothers: The True Story of the Women Who Took on the World’s Most Powerful Mafia by Alex Perry(HarperCollins Publishers ““ William Morrow)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

The Metaphysical Mysteries of G.K. Chesterton: A Critical Study of the Father Brown Stories and Other Detective Fiction by Laird R. Blackwell (McFarland Publishing)
Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession by Alice Bolin (HarperCollins Publishers ““ William Morrow Paperbacks)
Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s by Leslie S. Klinger (Pegasus Books)
Mark X: Who Killed Huck Finn’s Father? by Yasuhiro Takeuchi (Taylor & Francis – Routledge)
Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson (Pegasus Books)

BEST SHORT STORY

“Rabid ““ A Mike Bowditch Short Story” by Paul Doiron (Minotaur Books)
“Paranoid Enough for Two” ““ The Honorable Traitors by John Lutz (Kensington Publishing)
“Ancient and Modern” ““ Bloody Scotland by Val McDermid (Pegasus Books)
“English 398: Fiction Workshop” ““ Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Art Taylor (Dell Magazines)
“The Sleep Tight Motel” ““ Dark Corners Collection by Lisa Unger (Amazon Publishing)

BEST JUVENILE

Denis Ever After by Tony Abbott (HarperCollins Children’s Books ““ Katherine Tegen Books)
Zap! by Martha Freeman (Simon & Schuster ““ Paula Wiseman Books)
Ra the Mighty: Cat Detective by A.B. Greenfield (Holiday House)
Winterhouse by Ben Guterson (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Company ““ Henry Holt BFYR)
Otherwood by Pete Hautman (Candlewick Press)
Charlie & Frog: A Mystery by Karen Kane (Disney Publishing Worldwide ““ Disney Hyperion)
Zora & Me: The Cursed Ground by T.R. Simon (Candlewick Press)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Contagion by Erin Bowman (HarperCollins Children’s Books – HarperCollins)
Blink by Sasha Dawn (Lerner Publishing Group ““ Carolrhoda Lab)
After the Fire by Will Hill (Sourcebooks ““ Sourcebooks Fire)
A Room Away From the Wolves by Nova Ren Suma (Algonquin Young Readers)
Sadie by Courtney Summers (Wednesday Books)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

“The Box” – Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Teleplay by Luke Del Tredici (NBC/Universal TV)
“Season 2, Episode 1” ““ Jack Irish, Teleplay by Andrew Knight (Acorn TV)
“Episode 1” ““ Mystery Road, Teleplay by Michaeley O’Brien (Acorn TV)
“My Aim is True” ““ Blue Bloods, Teleplay by Kevin Wade (CBS Eye Productions)
“The One That Holds Everything” ““ The Romanoffs, Teleplay by Matthew Weiner & Donald Joh (Amazon Prime Video)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD 

“How Does He Die This Time?” ““ Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Nancy Novick (Dell Magazines)

* * * * * *

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

A Death of No Importance by Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur Books)
A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington Publishing)
Bone on Bone by Julia Keller (Minotaur Books)
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey (Soho Press ““ Soho Crime)
A Borrowing of Bones by Paula Munier (Minotaur Books)

The EDGAR (and logo) are Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by the Mystery Writers of America, Inc.

SOURCE Mystery Writers of America

I had the chance to meet Stephen Mack Jones, author of August Snow, last September. He’ll be back at the Poisoned Pen on Sunday, February 10 at 2 PM to talk about the second book in the series, Lives Laid Away. You might not want to wait that long to pick up a copy of the book. Lives Laid Away is the current Hot Book of the Week at the Poisoned Pen. You can order signed copies of it through the Web Store, along with a copy of August Snow. https://bit.ly/2S2JUc6

Here’s the summary of Lives Laid Away.

Detroit ex-cop August Snow takes up vigilante justice when his beloved neighborhood of Mexicantown is caught in the crosshairs of a human trafficking scheme.

When the body of an unidentified young Hispanic woman dressed as Queen Marie Antoinette is dredged from the Detroit River, the Detroit Police Department wants the case closed fast. Wayne County Coroner Bobby Falconi gives the woman’s photo to his old pal ex-police detective August Snow, insisting August show it around his native Mexicantown to see if anyone recognizes her. August’s good friend Elena, a prominent advocate for undocumented immigrants, recognizes the woman immediately as a local teenager, Isadora del Torres.

Izzy’s story is one the authorities don’t want getting around—and she’s not the only young woman to have disappeared during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid, only to turn up dead a few weeks later. Preyed upon by the law itself, the people of Mexicantown have no one to turn to. August Snow, the son of an African-American cop and a Mexican-American painter, will not sit by and watch his neighbors suffer in silence. In a guns-blazing wild ride across Detroit, from its neo-Nazi biker hole-ups to its hip-hop recording studios, its swanky social clubs to its seedy nightclubs, August puts his own life on the line to protect the community he loves.