Malice Domestic has announced the nominations for the 2017 Agatha Awards. The Agathas are given for traditional mysteries published during 2017. They will be presented at the Agatha Awards banquet on April 28. The attendees at Malice Domestic 30 will vote for the winners. Congratulations to all of the nominees. Look for the mysteries in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Best Contemporary Novel 
Death Overdue: A Haunted Library Mystery by Allison Brook (Crooked Lane Books)
A Cajun Christmas Killing: A Cajun Country Mystery by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
No Way Home: A Zoe Chambers Mystery by Annette Dashofy (Henery Press)
Take Out by Margaret Maron (Grand Central Publishing)
Glass Houses: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)

Best Historical Novel 
In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union Publishing)
Murder in an English Village: A Beryl and Edwina Mystery by Jessica Ellicott (Kensington)
Called to Justice: A Quaker Midwife Mystery by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink)
The Paris Spy: A Maggie Hope Mystery by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam)
Dangerous to Know: A Lillian Frost and Edith Head Novel by Renee Patrick (Forge)

Best First Novel 
Adrift: A Mer Cavallo Mystery by Micki Browning (Alibi-Random House)
The Plot is Murder: Mystery Bookshop by V.M. Burns (Kensington)
Hollywood Homicide: A Detective by Day Mystery by Kellye Garrett (Midnight Ink)
Daughters of Bad Men by Laura Oles (Red Adept Publishing)
Protocol: A Maggie O’Malley Mystery by Kathleen Valenti (Henery Press)

Best Nonfiction 
From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon by Mattias Boström (Mysterious Press)
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards (Poisoned Pen Press)
American Fire: Love, Arson and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse (Liveright Publishing Corp.)
Rewrite Your Life: Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction by Jess Lourey (Conari Press) Manderley
Forever: A Biography of Daphne du Maurier by Tatiana de Rosnay (St. Martin’s Press)

Best Short Story 
Double Deck the Halls by Gretchen Archer (Henery Press)
“Whose Wine is it Anyway” by Barb Goffman in 50 Shades of Cabernet (Koehler Books)
“The Night They Burned Miss Dixie’s Place” by Debra Goldstein in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (May/June 2017)
“The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn” by Gigi Pandian (Henery Press)
“A Necessary Ingredient” by Art Taylor in Cost to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Seat (Down & Out Books)

Best Children’s/Young Adult 
City of Angels by Kristi Belcamino (Polis Books)
Sydney Mackenzie Knocks ‘Em Dead by Cindy Callaghan (Aladdin)
The World’s Greatest Detective by Caroline Carlson (HarperCollins)
Audacity Jones Steals the Show by Kirby Larson (Scholastic Press)
The Harlem Charade by Natasha Tarpley (Scholastic Press)

Are you familiar with the current Hot Book of the Week at the Poisoned Pen? It’s Mick Herron’s This Is What Happened. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2nbwTMJ

Here’s the summary.

From CWA Gold & Steel Dagger winner Mick Herron comes a shocking, twisted novel of thrilling suspense about one woman’s attempt to be better than ordinary.

Twenty-six-year-old Maggie Barnes is someone you would never look at twice. Living alone in a month-to-month sublet in the huge city of London, with no family but an estranged sister, no boyfriend or partner, and not much in the way of friends, Maggie is just the kind of person who could vanish from the face of the earth without anyone taking notice. Or just the kind of person MI5 needs to infiltrate the establishment and thwart an international plot that puts all of Britain at risk.

Now one young woman has the chance to be a hero—if she can think quickly enough to stay alive.

Once in a while, we like to throw something unusual at you. AtlasObscura.com has fascinating tidbits of information. Alexander J. Zawacki just had an article called “How a Library Handles a Rare and Deadly Book of Wallpaper Samples”. Thinking of writing a mystery? You never know where you might stumble on an idea. Here’s the link to Zawacki’s article. https://bit.ly/2BuhIlX

James Anderson, author of Lullaby Road, was just here at the Poisoned Pen, and Patrick Millikin interviewed him. Before I give you several other links, here’s the link to the Web Store if you want to order a signed copy. https://bit.ly/2mOjfyL

There are several links to share for this event. First, if you’d like to see Patrick’s interview with this fascinating storyteller, you can watch it on Livestream. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/8028223

In the course of the interview, Anderson refers to an interview he did with Kaye Barley. He also talks about his book trailer for Lullaby Road, one with original music. Those can both be seen on this blog. Here’s the link to the interview and the book trailer, featured on Jan. 19. https://bit.ly/2DOxXgn

If you’ve read any of Dana Stabenow’s books, you know how important the setting is. Her most recent book, Silk and Song, takes place along the Silk Road. Her Kate Shugak mysteries, such as the latest in the series, Less Than a Treason, takes place in Alaska. You can find copies, including signed ones of Silk and Song, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2F9m0Bq

And, just recently, you could find Dana herself talking about the background of the books on “Imported Ink”. Here’s the link to Stabenow’s guest blog, “Between Two Continents with Dana Stabenow”. https://bit.ly/2DDbBSw

Of course, you can always find interesting pieces on Dana Stabenow’s own site, https://stabenow.com/

We know everyone can’t make all of the events at the Poisoned Pen. Fortunately, you can watch and listen to many of them via Livestream. Christopher Reich kicks off a new series with his novel, The Take. You can find signed copies through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2DvUca2

Here’s the description.

From New York Times bestselling author Christopher Reich, an international spy thriller featuring Simon Riske: one part James Bond, one part Jack Reacher

Here’s a Hot Book of the Week you might not recognize, Neil Olson’s The Black Painting. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2FUwwxD

Here’s the summary.

An old-money East Coast family faces the suspicious death of its patriarch and the unsolved theft of a Goya painting rumored to be cursed

There are four cousins in the Morse family: perfect Kenny, the preppy West Coast lawyer; James, the shy but brilliant medical student; his seductive, hard-drinking sister Audrey; and Teresa, youngest and most fragile, haunted by the fear that she has inherited the madness that possessed her father.

Their grandfather summons them to his mansion at Owl’s Point. None of them have visited the family estate since they were children, when a prized painting disappeared: a self-portrait by Goya, rumored to cause madness or death upon viewing. Afterward, the family split apart amid the accusations and suspicions that followed its theft.

Any hope that their grandfather planned to make amends evaporates when Teresa arrives to find the old man dead, his horrified gaze pinned upon the spot where the painting once hung. As the family gathers and suspicions mount, Teresa hopes to find the reasons behind her grandfather’s death and the painting’s loss. But to do so she must uncover ugly family secrets and confront those who would keep them hidden.

A masterful, deftly plotted novel, The Black Painting explores the profound power that art, and the past, hold over our lives.

It’s not only movie award season. It’s also time for the announcements of the 2018 mystery award nominations. Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine just announced the nominations for the 2018 Barry Awards. Check out the list, and then check the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Congratulations to all of the nominees. The winners will be announced at Bouchercon on Sept. 6.

Best Novel
THE LATE SHOW, Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER, Karen Dionne (Putnam)
EXIT STRATEGY, Steve Hamilton (Putnam)
THE FORCE, Don Winslow (Morrow)
PRUSSIAN BLUE, Philip Kerr (Putnam)
MAGPIE MURDERS, Anthony Horowitz (Harper)

Best First Novel
THE DRY, Jane Harper (Flatiron)
SHE RIDES SHOTGUN, Jordan Harper (Ecco)
THE LOST ONES, Sheena Kamal (Morrow)
THE IRREGULAR, H. P. Lyle (Quercus)
A RISING MAN, Abir Mukherjee (Pegasus)
MY ABSOLUTE DARLING, Gabriel Tallent (Riverhead)

Best Paperback Original
SAFE FROM HARM, R. J. Bailey (Simon & Schuster UK)
THE DEEP DARK DESCENDING, Allen Eskens (Seventh Street)
HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE, Kellye Garrett (Midnight Ink)
THE DAY I DIED, Lori Rader-Day (Morrow)
BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS, Kristi Belcamino (CreateSpace)
SUPER CON, James Swain (Thomas & Mercer)

Best Thriller
GUNMETAL GRAY, Mark Greaney (Berkley)
SPOOK STREET, Mick Herron (Soho)
THE FREEDOM BROKER, K. J. Howe (Quercus)
THE OLD MAN, Thomas Perry (Mysterious Press)
UNSUB, Meg Gardiner (Dutton)
TRAP THE DEVIL,  Ben Coes (St. Martin’s)

Have you met Alan Bradley’s amateur sleuth, Flavia de Luce? She’ll be back at the end of the month in The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place. You can pre-order a copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2DMohTW

Here’s the summary of the new book.

“The world’s greatest adolescent British chemist/busybody/sleuth” (The Seattle Times), Flavia de Luce, returns in a twisty new mystery novel from award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Alan Bradley.

In the wake of an unthinkable family tragedy, twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce is struggling to fill her empty days. For a needed escape, Dogger, the loyal family servant, suggests a boating trip for Flavia and her two older sisters. As their punt drifts past the church where a notorious vicar had recently dispatched three of his female parishioners by spiking their communion wine with cyanide, Flavia, an expert chemist with a passion for poisons, is ecstatic. Suddenly something grazes her fingers as she dangles them in the water. She clamps down on the object, imagining herself Ernest Hemingway battling a marlin, and pulls up what she expects will be a giant fish. But in Flavia’s grip is something far better: a human head, attached to a human body. If anything could take Flavia’s mind off sorrow, it is solving a murder—although one that may lead the young sleuth to an early grave.

Advance praise for The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place

“Outstanding . . . As usual, Bradley makes his improbable series conceit work and relieves the plot’s inherent darkness with clever humor.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“There’s only one Flavia. . . . Series fans will anticipate the details of this investigation, along with one last taste of Flavia’s unorthodox family life.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“Bradley’s unquenchable heroine brings “˜the most complicated case I had ever come across’ to a highly satisfying conclusion, with the promise of still brighter days ahead.”—Kirkus Reviews

Acclaim for Alan Bradley’s beloved Flavia de Luce novels, winners of the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award, Barry Award, Agatha Award, Macavity Award, Dilys Award, and Arthur Ellis Award

“If ever there were a sleuth who’s bold, brilliant, and, yes, adorable, it’s Flavia de Luce.”—USA Today

“Delightful . . . a combination of Eloise and Sherlock Holmes.”—The Boston Globe

“[Flavia] is as addictive as dark chocolate.”—Daily Mail

*****

If you’re not yet convinced that you should try Flavia’s stories, Alexis Gunderson has a piece called “Why Adults and Kids Should Read the Flavia de Luce Series by Alan Bradley.” Here’s the link to her article in Paste Magazine. https://bit.ly/2DLmjmA

Fans of FBI Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast will welcome the latest book in  the series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, City of Endless Night. In their interview with Barbara Peters, owner of the Poisoned Pen, Douglas Preston said it’s going back to the roots of the series. You can buy a signed copy, and it will come with special artwork and a surprise signature. Check out the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2FS7kbk

You couldn’t make it to the event the other night? It was recorded via Livestream, and you can watch it. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/8016811

Here’s the summary of the new Pendergast book.