Happy Independence Day from everyone at The Poisoned Pen!
Fiction Review
Kathryn Lasky discusses Mortal Radiance
Mortal Radiance is Kathryn Lasky’s second mystery featuring Georgia O’Keeffe. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed her to discuss her latest book and her writing. There are signed copies of Mortal Radiance available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3XNePKY.
Here’s the summary of Mortal Radiance.
Painter and amateur sleuth Georgia O’Keeffe investigates a tragic death when she returns to Taos in the second instalment of this twisty historical mystery set in the 1930s by multi award-winning author Kathryn Lasky.
“Step aside Miss Marple, Eugenia Potter, and Kinsey Millhone – Georgia O’Keeffe is the new sleuth in town!” Award-winning author Katherine Hall Page
New Mexico, 1935. Painter Georgia O’Keeffe is at her friend Mabel Dodge Luhan’s home, Los Gallos, a house inhabited by a colorful range of artists, authors and society figures, to attend the memorial service of the renowned writer D.H. Lawrence.
Georgia has been commissioned to design the stained-glass windows for the small memorial chapel in Lawrence’s honor. But when she checks to see how the light comes through the glass, another much more horrible sight awaits her: beloved Navajo potter Flora Namingha is dead, her face smashed in with a stone . . .
With Flora’s fianc� locked up as the obvious suspect and the local police negligent in its investigation, it seems like no one other than Georgia is capable of solving the murder and making sure justice is done.
When Georgia’s lover Sheriff Ryan McCaffrey comes to town unannounced, things get more complicated, and Georgia suddenly finds herself in a complex tangle of revenge, international espionage, Nazis and thugs that will require all her artistic sensibilities and amateur sleuthing skills to unravel!
Kathryn Lasky brings Georgia O’Keeffe, considered one of the most significant artists of the twentieth century, to vivid life, along with her set of eccentric famous friends. Lovers of twisty historical mysteries with authentic characters, stunning settings and strong female amateur sleuths are in for a treat!
Kathryn Lasky is the author of over one hundred books for children and young adults, including the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series, which has more than eight million copies in print, and was turned into a major motion picture, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole. Her books have received numerous awards including a Newbery Honor, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and a Washington Post-Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award. She has twice won the National Jewish Book award. Her work has been translated into 19 languages worldwide. She lives with her husband in Cambridge, MA.
Enjoy the discussion with Kathryn Lasky.
A Trio of Authors
John Charles recently welcomed a trio of authors to The Poisoned Pen. Christina Dodd is the author of A Daughter of Fair Verona. Liana de la Rosa is the author of Isabel and the Rogue. Dianne Freeman’s latest book is An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder. Check the Webstore to see if there are signed copies still available. https://store.poisonedpen.com/.
Here’s the description o A Daughter of Fair Verona.
A Daughter of Fair Verona
I’m the eldest daughter of Romeo and Juliet. Yes, that Romeo and Juliet. No, they didn’t die in the tomb. They’re alive and well and living in fair Verona with their six wildly impetuous children and me, their nineteen-year-old daughter Rosaline…
Knives Out meets Bridgerton in Fair Verona, as New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd kicks off a frothy, irreverent, witty new series with an irresistible premise—told from the delightfully engaging point of view of Romeo and Juliet’s clever, rebellious, fiercely independent daughter, Rosie Montague.
“Fun, funny, charming, and absolutely delightful. If you’re looking for a novel to sweep you away and lift your spirits, look no further.” – KRISTIN HANNAH, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Once upon a time a young couple met and fell in love. You probably know that story, and how it ended (hint: badly). Only here’s the thing: That’s not how it ended at all.
Romeo and Juliet are alive and well and the parents of seven kids. I’m the oldest, with the emphasis on ‘old’—a certified spinster at twenty, and happy to stay that way. It’s not easy to keep your taste for romance with parents like mine. Picture it—constant monologues, passionate declarations, fighting, making up, making out . . . it’s exhausting.
Each time they’ve presented me with a betrothal, I’ve set out to find the groom-to-be a more suitable bride. After all, someone sensible needs to stay home and manage this household. But their latest match, Duke Stephano, isn’t so easy to palm off on anyone else. The debaucher has had three previous wives—all of whom met unfortunate ends. Conscience forbids me from consigning another woman to that fate. As it turns out, I don’t have to . . .
At our betrothal ball—where, quite by accident, I meet a beautiful young man who makes me wonder if perhaps there is something to love at first sight—I stumble upon Duke Stephano with a dagger in his chest. But who killed him? His late wives’ families, his relatives, his mistress, his servants—half of Verona had motive. And when everyone around the Duke begins dying, disappearing, or descending into madness, I know I must uncover the killer . . . before death lies on me like an untimely frost.
Christina Dodd is a New York Times bestselling author whose suspense, paranormal, historical, and mystery novels have been translated into 30 languages and sold more than 15 million copies in print. Praised for her “brilliantly etched characters, polished writing, and unexpected flashes of sharp humor that are pure Dodd” (Booklist), her award-winning books have landed on numerous Best of the Year lists and, much to her mother’s delight, Dodd was once a clue in the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle. She lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest, where her 700 lavender plants share the yard with her husband’s various “Big Projects,” including a treehouse, zipline, and their very own Stonehenge. Enter Christina’s worlds and join her mailing list for humor, book news and entertainment (yes, she’s the proud author with the infamous three-armed cover) at ChristinaDodd.com.
When a Mexican heiress defies Victorian society to protect her country a British war hero makes it his new mission to protect her…
Isabel Luna Valdés has long since resigned herself to being the “forgotten” Luna sister. But thanks to familial connections to the Mexican ambassador in London, wallflower Isabel is poised to unearth any British intelligence hidden by the ton that might aid Mexico during the French Occupation. Though she slips easily from crowded ballrooms into libraries and private studies, Isabel’s search is hampered by trysting couples and prowling rogues—including the rakish Captain Sirius Dawson.
As a covert agent for the British Home Office, Sirius makes a game of earning the aristocracy’s confidence. He spends his days befriending foolish politicians and seducing well-born ladies in order to learn their secrets. But after he spies a certain sharp-tongued Luna sister lurking in the shadows where no proper debutante should venture, it’s clear Sirius is outmatched, outwitted, and soon to be outmaneuvered by the one woman he can’t resist.
Their mutual attraction is undeniable, but when Isabel discovers private correspondence that could turn the tide of political turmoil in Mexico, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to protect her country—even if this means ignoring her heart and courting danger…
Liana De la Rosa is a USA Today bestselling historical romance author who writes diverse characters in the Regency and Victorian periods. Liana is a graduate of the University of Arizona, and when she’s not writing, Liana is listening to true crime podcasts while she wrangles her spirited brood of children with her patient husband in Arizona.
Here’s the description of An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder.
Filled with Victorian-era intrigue for readers of Rhys Bowen, Deanna Raybourn, Tasha Alexander, and Julia Seales, Dianne Freeman’s Agatha Award-winning series takes a delightful jaunt to the City of Light as Frances Wynn, the American-born Countess of Harleigh, encounters a murder scene at the Paris Exposition.
Frances and her husband, George, have two points of interest in Paris. One is an impromptu holiday to visit the Paris Exposition. The other is personal. George’s Aunt Julia has requested her nephew’s help in looking into the suspicious death of renowned artist Paul Ducasse. Though Julia is not entirely forthcoming about her reasons, she is clearly a woman mourning a lost love.
At the exposition, swarming with tourists, tragedy casts a pall on the festivities. A footbridge collapses. Julia is among the casualties. However, she was not just another fateful victim. Julia was stabbed to death amid the chaos. With an official investigation at a standstill, George and Frances realize that to solve the case they must dig into Julia’s life—as well as Paul’s—and question everything and everyone in Julia’s coterie of artists and secrets.
They have no shortage of suspects. There is Paul’s inscrutable widow, Gabrielle. Paul’s art dealer and manager, Lucien. Julia’s friend Martine, a sculptress with a jealous streak. And art jurist, Monsieur Beaufoy. The investigation takes a turn when it’s revealed that George has inherited control of Julia’s estate—and another of her secrets. While George investigates, Frances safeguards their new legacy, and is drawn further into danger by a killer determined to keep the past buried.
Dianne Freeman is the acclaimed author of the Agatha and Lefty Award winning Countess of Harleigh Mysteries, a two time finalist for the Macavity’s Sue Feder Memorial Award, and a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award. She spent thirty years working in corporate accounting and finance and now writes full time. Born and raised in Michigan, she and her husband now split their time between Michigan and Arizona. Visit her at DiFreeman.com.
Enjoy the conversation with the trio of authors.
Mark Greaney and Jack Stewart in Conversation
Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Mark Greaney and Jack Stewart to the bookstore for a live event. Greaney’s latest book is the second Armored book, Sentinel. This is Jack Stewart’s first appearance at the bookstore with his book, Outlaw. Both books involve China. There are signed copies of both in the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/.
Here’s the description of Sentinel.
An African coup may force Josh Duffy to choose between his mission and his family in this intense thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Gray Man series.
Josh Duffy and his wife Nikki are both working for the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service providing protection for diplomats in the field. They’ve been sent to Ghana with a team of US embassy personnel who are there to highlight American commitment to the construction of a new dam.
Since Ghana is a stable democracy, the Duffy children have come along for a short vacation. But stability proves to be fleeting when a Chinese plan to embarrass the US means the destruction of the dam. Now Josh and his protectees are on the run caught between a Chinese hit squad and a rebel army.
Mark Greaney has a degree in international relations and political science. In his research for the Armored novels and the Gray Man novels, including The Chaos Agent, Burner, Sierra Six, Relentless, One Minute Out, Mission Critical, Agent in Place, Gunmetal Gray, Back Blast, Dead Eye, Ballistic, On Target, and The Gray Man, he traveled to more than thirty-five countries and trained alongside military and law enforcement in the use of firearms, battlefield medicine, and close-range combative tactics. With Marine Lt. Col. Rip Rawlings, he wrote the New York Times bestseller Red Metal. He is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers Tom Clancy Support and Defend, Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect, Tom Clancy Commander in Chief, and Tom Clancy True Faith and Allegiance. With Tom Clancy, he coauthored Locked On, Threat Vector, and Command Authority.
Here’s the summary of Jack Stewart’s Outlaw.
A missing CIA officer.
A rogue terrorist faction.
A bioweapon more devastating than anything ever seen.
And that’s just the beginning.
When a rogue military faction in China kidnaps a CIA case officer, global tensions ignite. Desperate to forestall the looming firestorm, the United States deploys an elite team of Navy SEALs to rescue the agent, protected by nothing but their training and a single pilot providing air cover from his FA-18E Super Hornet-normally, it wouldn’t be enough.
But these aren’t normal times.and this is no ordinary pilot.
Fresh off his latest mission, TOPGUN pilot Colt Bancroft is tasked with providing air support to the SEALs. But when Chinese jets engage him just as a bioweapon is simultaneously deployed against Colt’s aircraft carrier, he realizes this is more than a simple kidnapping: it’s a prelude to world war.
Now, aided by Emmy King-an intelligent and beautiful NCIS Agent with a score to settle-Colt will have to use everything he has to figure out who’s behind the attacks. And more importantly, how to stop them before they strike again.
It’s a race between national security and global catastrophe…and only a man used to flying supersonic has a chance in hell of winning.
Jack Stewart grew up in Seattle, Washington and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy before serving twenty-three years as a fighter pilot. During that time, he flew combat missions from three different aircraft carriers and deployed to Afghanistan as a member of an Air Force Tactical Air Control Party. His last deployment was with a joint special operations counter-terrorism task force in Africa.
Jack is a graduate of the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) and holds a Master of Science in Global Leadership from the University of San Diego. He is an airline pilot and has appeared as a military and commercial aviation expert on international cable news. He lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife and three children.
Enjoy the conversation with Mark Greaney and Jack Stewart.
Ace Atkins discusses Don’t Let the Devil Ride
Patrick Millikin welcomed Ace Atkins back to The Poisoned Pen. Signed copies of Atkins’ latest book, Don’t Let the Devil Ride, is available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4cI5PuJ.
Here’s the summary of Don’t Let the Devil Ride.
“An instant Southern noir classic” –S.A. Cosby
S.A. Cosby meets Don Winslow in the breakout thriller from New York Times bestselling author Ace Atkins. A Memphis woman hires a PI to find her missing husband, only to discover that he is involved in a dangerous web of international intrigue—and she and her children are now at risk.
Hell is empty…and Addison McKellar’s husband is missing.
Addison McKellar isn’t clueless—she knows she and her husband Dean don’t have the perfect marriage—but she’s still shocked when he completely vanishes from her life. At first Addison is annoyed, but as days stretch into a week and she’s repeatedly stonewalled by Dean’s friends and associates, her frustration turns into genuine alarm. When even the police seem dismissive of her concerns, Addison turns to her father’s old friend, legendary Memphis PI Porter Hayes.
Porter and Addison begin to dig deeper into Dean’s affairs and quickly discover that he was never the hardworking business owner and family man he pretended to be. As they piece together the connections between a hook-handed mercenary, one of Elvis’s former leading ladies, and a man posing as an FBI agent, it becomes clear that Dean was deeply enmeshed in a high-stakes web of international intrigue, and Porter and Addison aren’t the only ones looking for him.
Dean angered some very dangerous people before he disappeared—people who have already killed to get what they want—and they won’t hesitate to come after his family to even the score.
Don’t Let the Devil Ride is a thrilling adventure about what can happen when you pull back the curtain on your life. Ace Atkins, long known for gritty Southern noir with a witty edge, has crafted an ambitious, globe-hopping story that comes home to Memphis in explosive fashion.
Ace Atkins is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author who started his writing career as a crime beat reporter in Florida. Don’t Let the Devil Ride is his thirtieth novel. His previous novels include eleven books in the Quinn Colson series and multiple true-crime novels based on infamous crooks and killers. In 2010, he was chosen by Robert B. Parker’s family to continue the iconic Spenser series, adding ten novels to the franchise. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi with his family.
Enjoy Ace Atkins’ conversation about Don’t Let the Devil Ride, the background and the music that inspired it.
Paul Doiron discusses Pitch Dark
Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed Paul Doiron to discuss his fifteenth Mike Bowditch mystery, Pitch Dark. There are signed copies of Pitch Dark available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3zfusjV.
Here’s the summary of Pitch Dark.
Game Warden Mike Bowditch must chase down a cunning and dangerous fugitive in the North Maine Woods in this nail-biter of a thriller from Edgar Award-nominated author Paul Doiron, Pitch Dark.
Legendary bush pilot Josie Jonson can’t believe her luck when a skilled builder just happens to show up after she purchases land near Prentiss Pond. All Mark Redmond asks in return for building Josie’s dream cabin is that he be left alone to homeschool his 12-year-old daughter, Cady.
For Maine game warden investigator Mike Bowditch, the intensity of Redmond’s secretiveness is troubling, especially in light of suspicious criminal activity being reported around the area?including rumors of an armed man offering large sums of money in exchange for the location of Redmond and Cady. Josie, though hesitant to violate the trust of her prized builder, eventually agrees to fly Mike and his father-in-law Charley Stevens to the secluded pond in an attempt to protect Redmond and Cady. But hours after landing, the trip takes a dark turn when they witness a horrific murder and are taken captive themselves.
Freeing himself, Mike is forced to set off through the impenetrable Maine forest towards Canada, alone and unarmed in pursuit of a mysterious fugitive. As he navigates a windblown landscape choked with deadfalls and blocked by swollen streams, he marvels at his enemy’s bush craft. The killer possesses skills surpassing his own, and Bowditch can’t tell if he is the cat or the mouse in this dangerous game. Can Mike Bowditch stop his adversary in time to save the life of a young girl, or will he be forced to watch another innocent soul die?
A native of Maine, bestselling author PAUL DOIRON attended Yale University, where he graduated with a degree in English. The Poacher’s Son, the first book in the Mike Bowditch series, won the Barry award, the Strand award for best first novel, and has been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, and Macavity awards in the same category. He is a Registered Maine Guide specializing in fly fishing and lives on a trout stream in coastal Maine with his wife, Kristen Lindquist.
Enjoy the conversation with Paul Doiron.
Flynn Berry’s Trust Her
Edgar Award-winning author Flynn Berry was Barbara Peters’ guest author for a recent virtual event for The Poisoned Pen. Berry’s latest book, Trust Her, is a follow-up to Northern Spy. There are signed copies of Trust Her available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3xBEoDW.
Here is the description of Trust Her.
“Flynn Berry is a must-read for me. Trust Her delivers her trademark blend of riveting suspense and beautiful emotional depth. You will love this novel.” —Laura Dave, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me
“I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Berry effortlessly combines suspense with prose packed full of emotional depth in a human-centered story that resonates long after you finish reading.” —Sarah Pearse, New York Times bestselling author of The Retreat and The Sanatorium
Two sisters find they can’t outrun their past in the riveting new thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Northern Spy, a Reese’s Book Club pick
Three years after they narrowly escaped the IRA’s worst punishment for informing, Northern Irish sisters Tessa and Marian Daly have built a new life in Dublin with their young children. Though Tessa is haunted by the abrupt and violent end to her old life, she does her best to immerse herself in the joys of Finn’s childhood and the rhythms of her new job at the Irish Observer.
It’s a small island, though, and just as quickly as they disappeared, figures from the sisters’ past surface to drag them back into the conflict. Tessa is told she must track down her old handler from MI5, Eamonn, and attempt to turn him into an IRA informant, or lose everything.
Tessa’s reunion with Eamonn revives a host of feelings she has long attempted to bury. As their relationship intensifies and the pressure mounts, long-held secrets rise to the surface, and Tessa must navigate a treacherous landscape of shifting loyalties, all while trying to protect her beloved son.
With her signature hair-raising suspense, razor-sharp prose, and rich emotional depth, Edgar Award winner Berry has crafted both an unforgettable portrait of two fierce women in the Daly sisters, and her most spellbinding thriller to date.
Flynn Berry is the author of Under the Harrow, winner of the 2017 Edgar Award for Best First Novel; A Double Life, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice; and Northern Spy, a Reese’s Book Club Pick that was named one of the ten best thrillers of 2021 by The New York Times and The Washington Post. The recipient of a Yaddo fellowship, Berry is a graduate of the Michener Center for Writers and Brown University.
Enjoy the conversation with Flynn Berry.
Hollywood in Crime Fiction
John Charles recently hosted two authors who talked about their crime novels set in Hollywood. Marjorie McCown’s new book is Star Struck. Hollywood Hustle is a debut thriller by Emmy-nominated actor Jon Lindstrom. You can order copies of both books through the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/.
Here’s the description of Star Struck.
Perfect for fans of Elle Cosimano and Kellye Garrett, in this second Hollywood mystery, film costumer Joey Jessop discovers that Hollywood buries its secrets deep when a superstar’s assistant turns up dead.
Costumer Joey Jessop is working on a movie set in 1930s Hollywood and starring two of the world’s biggest stars. The male lead is also a dedicated social activist, and the female lead, Gillian Best, is known for her lifestyle brand. After a hit-and-run near the set, Joey realizes that the car involved belongs to Gillian, and she begins to wonder if the actress has more to hide than her Botox appointments.
Her suspicions deepen when Gillian’s personal assistant, Rita, vows to get revenge for Gillian replacing her and is found dead shortly after. Gillian quickly labels Rita’s death a suicide, and the police seem to agree–but Joey isn’t so sure.
With the police standing aside, it’s up to Joey to dig up the truth—but Hollywood stars know how to keep their secrets close, and a woman like Gillian Best won’t take kindly to someone sniffing around her affairs. Joey is certain that Gillian has something to hide–and she’s determined to find out what.
Marjorie McCown has spent her entire professional life in the story-telling business, though she started out on the visual side of the craft. She spent more than twenty-five years in Hollywood working as a key member of the costume design teams for a string of successful movies that includes Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, The Firm, A Bronx Tale, Wag the Dog, The Aviator, Hairspray, Angels and Demons, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and X-Men: Days of Future Past. McCown has a BA in theater from the University of Virginia and an AAS in fashion design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. She lives in Southern California.
Here’s the summary of Hollywood Hustle.
USA TODAY BESTSELLER
From 4-time Emmy-nominated actor Jon Lindstrom of General Hospital, Bosch, and True Detective fame, comes a gripping debut thriller.
Set in the dark underbelly of the LA film industry, Hollywood Hustle is the perfect read for fans of Alex Finlay and Jeffery Deaver.
Winston Greene, a has-been film star, wakes one morning to find his six-year-old granddaughter at his bedside—traumatized, unattended, and gripping onto a thumb drive. She comes bearing video proof that her mother, Win’s troubled adult daughter, has been kidnapped by a murderous gang demanding all his “movie money” for her safe return. But what they don’t know is…his movie money is long gone.
Unable to go to the police for fear the kidnappers will make good on their promise to kill his daughter, Winston turns to two close friends—a legendary Hollywood stuntman and a disgraced former LAPD detective.
There’s no easy way out for Winston or his daughter—the gang is violent and willing to do anything to get the money they’re after, and Winston begins to realize that to get his daughter back, he’ll have to beat the kidnappers at their own game.
This propulsive and tense thriller will transport readers to the seedier side of LA, depicted in bold prose by a Hollywood insider.
A 4-time Emmy© nominee, Jon Lindstrom can be found in studio movies, independent films and literally thousands of hours of TV, working with several A-list directors and alongside many of Hollywood’s biggest names. An award-winning filmmaker, Jon’s films have won multiple film festival accolades. His writing has twice won recognition at the Launchpad Prose Competition, and several top screenplay competitions. For several years he was the drummer for The High Lonesome, scoring two hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Jon divides his time between Los Angeles and New York City.
Enjoy the conversation with the authors about their lives, their books, and Hollywood.
Historical Mystery Authors
John Charles recently hosted two historical mystery writers, Anna Lee Huber, author of A Deceptive Composition and Sherry Thomas, author of A Ruse of Shadows. You can order copies of both books through the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
Here’s the description of A Deceptive Composition, the latest Lady Darby mystery.
Lady Kiera Darby and her dashing husband, Sebastian Gage, hope they’ve finally found peace after a tumultuous summer, but long-buried family secrets soon threaten to unravel their lives . . .
October 1832. Kiera is enjoying the slower pace of the English countryside. She, Sebastian, and their infant daughter have accompanied her father-in-law, Lord Gage, home so that he can recuperate from the injuries he sustained in a foiled attempt on his life. But as the chill of autumn sweeps across the land, they receive a summons from an unexpected quarter. Lord Gage’s estranged uncle—a member of the notorious Roscarrock family—has been murdered, and his family is desperate for answers. Despite Lord Gage’s protests, Kiera and Sebastian press on to Cornwall to assist.
It isn’t long before they discover that almost nothing is as it seems among the Roscarrocks, and they’ve been lured to their isolated cove under false pretenses. There are whispers of a lost treasure and frightening allusions to a series of murders stretching back decades that touch the lives of the family personally. Kiera and Sebastian are left with no choice but to uncover the truth before the secrets of the past threaten to destroy them all.
Anna Lee Huber is the Daphne Award–winning author of the national bestselling Lady Darby Mysteries and the Verity Kent Mysteries. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she majored in music and minored in psychology. She currently resides in Indiana with her family and is hard at work on her next novel.
Here’s the description of Thomas’ Lady Sherlock mystery, A Ruse of Shadows.
Charlotte Holmes is accustomed to solving crimes, not being accused of them, but she finds herself in a dreadfully precarious position as the bestselling Lady Sherlock series continues.
Charlotte’s success on the RMS Provence has afforded her a certain measure of time and assurance. Taking advantage of that, she has been busy, plotting to prise the man her sister loves from Moriarty’s iron grip.
Disruption, however, comes from an unexpected quarter. Lord Bancroft Ashburton, disgraced and imprisoned as a result of Charlotte’s prior investigations, nevertheless manages to press Charlotte into service: Underwood, his most loyal henchman, is missing and Lord Bancroft wants Charlotte to find Underwood, dead or alive.
But then Lord Bancroft himself turns up dead and Charlotte, more than anyone else, meets the trifecta criteria of motive, means, and opportunity. Never mind rescuing anyone else, with the law breathing down her neck, can Charlotte save herself from prosecution for murder?
USA Today bestselling author Sherry Thomas is one of the most acclaimed historical romance authors writing today and a two-time RITA Award winner.
Enjoy the conversation with Anna Lee Huber and Sherry Thomas.
Baron Birtcher discusses Knife River
Patrick Millikin recently hosted Baron Birtcher for a discussion of his latest novel, Knife River, but they also discussed Birtcher’s first book, Roadhouse Blues. You can order Knife River through the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/item/HTqtcjA7QnjLswv69LzYAw.
Here’s the description of Knife River.
A sheriff fighting to keep the peace in 1970s Oregon faces a shocking secret from his town’s past, in this crime thriller from the author of Reckoning.
There are rules in the West no matter what era you were born in, and it’s up to lawman Ty Dawson to make sure they’re followed in the valley he calls home. The people living on this unforgiving land keep to themselves and are wary of the modern world’s encroachment into their quiet lives.
So it’s not without some suspicion that Dawson confronts a newcomer to the region: a record producer who has built a music studio in an isolated compound. His latest project is a collaboration with a famous young rock star named Ian Swann, recording and filming his sessions for a movie. An amphitheater for a live show is being built on the land, giving Dawson flashbacks to the violent Altamont concert. Not on his watch.
But even beefed up security can’t stop a disaster that’s been over a decade in the making. All it takes is one horrific case bleeding its way into the present to prove that the good ol’ days spawned a brand of evil no one wants to revisit . . .
Praise for the Ty Dawson Mysteries
“The novel combines the mystery and honesty of Craig Johnson’s Longmire with the first-person narration of a fiercely independent Oregon character.” —Sheila Deeth, author of John’s Joy
“A masterful work of a time gone by. . . . Ty Dawson is a cowboy, lawman, father and philosopher like none other.” —Neal Griffin, Los Angeles Times–bestselling author of The Burden of Proof
Baron Birtcher spent a number of years as a professional musician, and founded an independent record label and management company. His first two novels, Roadhouse Blues and Ruby Tuesday, are Los Angeles Times and Independent Mystery Booksellers Association bestsellers. Birtcher has been nominated for a number of literary awards, including the Nero Award for his novel Hard Latitudes, the Claymore Award for his novel Rain Dogs, and the Left Coast Crime “Lefty” Award for his novel Angels Fall. He was the 2016 Silver Falchion Award winner for his novel Hard Latitudes and the 2018 Winner of the Killer Nashville Reader’s Choice Award for his novel South California Purples.
Birtcher currently divides his time between Portland, Oregon, and Kona, Hawaii.
Enjoy the conversation with Baron Birtcher.