Fiction Review

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.

Check the Web Store for November Road and the other nominated books. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s the description of November Road.

“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.

And it might get them both killed.

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)

The Macavity Awards are nominated by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal and friends of MRI. The winners will be announced at opening ceremonies at Bouchercon in Dallas, TX, October 31, 2019.


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)

Best Short Story 
 “Race to Judgment” by Craig Faustus Buck (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Nov/Dec 2018)
“All God’s Sparrows” by Leslie Budewitz (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, May/Jun 2018)
“Bug Appétit” by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Nov/Dec 2018)
“Three-Star Sushi” by Barry Lancet (Down & Out: The Magazine, Vol.1, No. 3)
“The Cambodian Curse” by Gigi Pandian (The Cambodian Curse and Other Stories)
 “English 398: Fiction Workshop” by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Jul/Aug 2018)

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

Diamond Dagger Recipient: Robert Goddard

Red Metal by Mark Greaney and Lt. Col. H. Ripley Rawlings IV hits The New York Times Bestseller list on August. 3. However, you’re ahead of the game. You’ll be able to watch the video of their appearance at The Poisoned Pen and order a signed copy of the book through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2o92azg

Here’s the description of Red Metal.

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?

*****

You can watch Barbara Peters interview Greaney and Rawlings here.

Once in a while, the publisher Penguin Random House sends a video that you might find interesting. Maureen Callahan is the author of a true crime book, American Predator. You can reserve a copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2YirB1u

Callahan talks about her book as part of the series, “Inside the Book/Meet the Author.”

Here’s what it says on The Poisoned Pen’s website about American Predator.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A Washington Post “10 Books To Read in July”
A Los Angeles Times “Seven Highly Anticipated Books for Summer Reading”
A USA Today “20 of the Season’s Hottest New Books”
A New York Post “25 Best Beach Reads of 2019 You Need to Pre-Order Now” 

“Maureen Callahan’s deft reporting and stylish writing have created one of the all-time-great serial-killer books: sensitive, chilling, and completely impossible to put down.” –Ada Calhoun, author of St. Marks Is Dead 

Ted Bundy. John Wayne Gacy. Jeffrey Dahmer. The names of notorious serial killers are usually well-known; they echo in the news and in public consciousness. But most people have never heard of Israel Keyes, one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history. The FBI considered his behavior unprecedented. Described by a prosecutor as “a force of pure evil,” Keyes was a predator who struck all over the United States. He buried “kill kits”–cash, weapons, and body-disposal tools–in remote locations across the country. Over the course of fourteen years, Keyes would fly to a city, rent a car, and drive thousands of miles in order to use his kits. He would break into a stranger’s house, abduct his victims in broad daylight, and kill and dispose of them in mere hours. And then he would return home to Alaska, resuming life as a quiet, reliable construction worker devoted to his only daughter.

When journalist Maureen Callahan first heard about Israel Keyes in 2012, she was captivated by how a killer of this magnitude could go undetected by law enforcement for over a decade. And so began a project that consumed her for the next several years–uncovering the true story behind how the FBI ultimately caught Israel Keyes, and trying to understand what it means for a killer like Keyes to exist. A killer who left a path of monstrous, randomly committed crimes in his wake–many of which remain unsolved to this day.

American Predator is the ambitious culmination of years of interviews with key figures in law enforcement and in Keyes’s life, and research uncovered from classified FBI files. Callahan takes us on a journey into the chilling, nightmarish mind of a relentless killer, and to the limitations of traditional law enforcement.

Daniel Nieh’s debut crime novel, Beijing Payback, is the July selection for the First Mystery Book Club. Of course, you don’t need to be a member to order a signed copy from the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2YdBttv

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly says, ” This impressive blend of crime and coming-of-age marks Nieh as a talent to watch.” https://bit.ly/2Oj9tVA

Here’s the summary of Beijing Payback.

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.

Laura Lippman’s standalone, Lady in the Lake, is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. It’s quite hot in fact. While the store’s description of the book refers to Lippman as “The revered New York Times bestselling author”, Lady in the Lake was reviewed in The New York Times by another revered author, Stephen King. You can read his review here. https://nyti.ms/2JMCALB

Of course you can order a signed copy of Lady in the Lake through the Web Store. You can also order copies of Lippman’s other books. https://bit.ly/2Sw6oji

Here’s the summary of the current Hot Book of the Week.

The revered New York Times bestselling author returns with a novel set in 1960s Baltimore that combines modern psychological insights with elements of classic noir, about a middle-aged housewife turned aspiring reporter who pursues the murder of a forgotten young woman.

In 1966, Baltimore is a city of secrets that everyone seems to know—everyone, that is, except Madeline “Maddie” Schwartz. Last year, she was a happy, even pampered housewife. This year, she’s bolted from her marriage of almost twenty years, determined to make good on her youthful ambitions to live a passionate, meaningful life. 

Maddie wants to matter, to leave her mark on a swiftly changing world. Drawing on her own secrets, she helps Baltimore police find a murdered girl—assistance that leads to a job at the city’s afternoon newspaper, the Star.Working at the newspaper offers Maddie the opportunity to make her name, and she has found just the story to do it: a missing woman whose body was discovered in the fountain of a city park lake.

Cleo Sherwood was a young black woman who liked to have a good time. No one seems to know or care why she was killed except Maddie—and the dead woman herself. Maddie’s going to find the truth about Cleo’s life and death. Cleo’s ghost, privy to Maddie’s poking and prying, wants to be left alone. 

Maddie’s investigation brings her into contact with people that used to be on the periphery of her life—a jewelry store clerk, a waitress, a rising star on the Baltimore Orioles, a patrol cop, a hardened female reporter, a lonely man in a movie theater. But for all her ambition and drive, Maddie often fails to see the people right in front of her. Her inability to look beyond her own needs will lead to tragedy and turmoil for all sorts of people—including the man who shares her bed, a black police officer who cares for Maddie more than she knows.

Steve Cavanagh, author of Thirteen, will be The Poisoned Pen’s featured author on Thursday, August 22 at 7 PM. Why am I telling you that so far in advance? Cavanagh and Thirteen just won the 2019 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. You’ll want to pre-order your signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/30QyXew

According to the Harrogate Informer, the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award is the most coveted crime writing award in England. You can read the entire announcement, and see a picture of Steve Cavanagh, here. https://bit.ly/30NSlZt

Here’s the description of the award-winning crime novel.

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

Maggie Robinson is the author of two mysteries featuring Lady Adelaide Compton., Nobody’s Sweetheart Now, and Who’s Sorry Now? The books are set in the 1920s. Both books are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2r5nvfa

Recently, Robinson wrote an article for Bookreporter called “Bright and Young and Who’s Sorry Now?” in which she discussed the 1920s. You might want to read the article for background to the series, or even just information about that time period. https://bit.ly/2LyLVtv

Here’s the description of Who’s Sorry Now?

“If you like a clever mystery, a handsome ghost, and the far-from-bereaved widow who can’t find the elusive killer without Rupert’s help, Who’s Sorry Now? is just your cup of English murder.“—Charles Todd, author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries and the Bess Crawford mysteries

London, England 1925

A Russian prince. A wealthy heir. An impoverished earl’s daughter. Which one will make an untimely exit from the London social scene?

Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Devenand Hunter finds himself in the middle of a series of upper-class deaths in London. Bright Young People are being extinguished in their favorite night spots, from a sleazy private jazz club to the Savoy ballroom. Dev knows just the person to help him navigate the treacherous society waters: Lady Adelaide Compton, a marquess’ daughter and widow of a Great War hero. Unfortunately, he has put her in jeopardy once before, nearly leading him to turn in his warrant card.

But when her sister Cee is nearly one of the victims, Addie turns to Mr. Hunter, offering her help… and it soon becomes clear that the two of them working together again could lead to much more than merely solving crime.

The Lady Adelaide Mysteries:
Nobody’s Sweetheart Now (Book 1)
Who’s Sorry Now? (Book 2)